Detour
by MermaidMidna
Summary: There's some unresolved tension in the air during Casey and Derek's car ride home from vacation, but it's nothing a little detour won't fix... right?
1. Text Messages

One-third of the car ride home and she realizes that the dream of dancing in New York is just silly. Stupid.

First of all, she's so blatantly Canadian. It's in her blood. It's plastered on the walls of her house and the walls of her brain. New York is new, unfamiliar territory. Exciting, yes. But is she really ready to leave Canada yet? She hadn't ever thought about leaving Canada. Everything she loves is there. Everything and _everyone. _

Then there's Queen's, _her _school, and a scholarship with _her _name…

Since when has dancing taken a higher priority over education? How un-Casey-like. How un-Casey-like she's been this whole summer. Starting from the very night she got out of high school, her spirits high and her plans for the future so ideal. It all went downhill when she called Derek Venturi her brother… and he didn't argue.

Sick.

Speaking of her dear stepbrother… (She still puts the step in front of it, even after that night. That should tell you everything.) How is her poor, pathetic Derek going to deal with university life without her? He could barely survive high school without The Casey Condensation Method… No, no. She simply can't leave him to squander his precious study time on parties and hockey. She has to be there to keep him on track.

Her iPod dies while she listens to "Don't Leave Me" by _The All American Rejects._

It's decided then. She's not going anywhere.

* * *

Two-thirds of the car ride home and she gets a message on her cell, the phone vibrating angrily in her sweaty palm. She flips it open.

_I'm gonna miss u, CM. Let me know if you can do the show as soon ASAP. :)_

Two sentences are all it takes to convince her that her prior decision is right. Because "I'm gonna miss you" is automatically followed by a stupid nickname. And a request that renders him missing her irrelevant. It's rushed. And it's… totally not romantic. At all.

She then realizes there wasn't even a goodbye kiss. Just a semi-awkward hug as she attempted not to glower over his shoulder at another couple locked in a more… intimate embrace. She stood there, her eyes filling with tears from trying not to glare or from jealousy (she was not sure which), and wondered when Derek became so interested in brunettes. It was only when Jesse released her that her thoughts turned from 'maybe I should get rid of these blonde highlights' to 'maybe I should get in the freaking car so they both get the message.'

She pulled away and Jesse saw the tears in her eyes. He thought she was being all sentimental and overly-emotional.

"We'll probably see each other again, soon." He tried to be comforting. She couldn't give a damn. She hurriedly nodded and rushed over to Derek, pulling him away from his… girly distraction.

"Come on, D! We have to go!"

Her stepbrother waved goodbye and she practically threw him in The Prince, her emotions getting the best of her.

Silence the rest of the ride.

She deletes the message. Somehow it invigorates her, gives her power. She feels like a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders.

Then she feels stupid because she should probably reply to that message.

_Hey, Jesse. I'm afraid New York isn't going to work out for me. I hope you find a new dance partner. Break a leg! :) –Casey_

If he really wants her reasons as to why she can't dance with him, he'll text her back. But honestly, she couldn't care less if he never texts her again.

* * *

Three-fourths of the car ride home and she's still thinking. Then she gets an idea. "Wait, Derek." she says eagerly. "What if… if we take a detour home?"

He looks at her as if she's just sprouted wings and a beak.

"We just traveled all this way, and you want to keep going?" he asks. Her face is flushed now as she realizes how weird and dumb she must sound.

"I mean, we can go get… ice cream. Or… just talk." Okay, now he _really _thinks she's crazy. If he wasn't driving, he would have looked her straight in the eyes and told her so.

"Do you really want to go home and have to unpack, and deal with our crazy family, and the baby?" she tries desperately to save herself. But it's hardly working.

"Whatever." he says, but turns off the road anyway, leaving the course to home.

Truthfully, she just wants more time to think, more time to be with him. Somehow the two of these things just seem to correlate right now.

"Well, start talking, Spacey." he says suddenly, and she jumps out of her seat a little.

"Start talking?" she asks, having completely forgotten her lame excuses to keep driving.

"Yeah, you said we should talk so… go." he says, matter-of-factly.

She gets flustered. This is not what she expected. She didn't think he would _actually _want to talk to her. Her words come out in a panicked, jumbled mess.

"You don't really, actually care about Roxy, do you?" she blurts out, her face turning, if possible, an even darker shade of red.

"_That's_ the first thing you want to talk about, princess?" He slows down on the road and looks at her, smirking. She pretends he doesn't exist. Which is really difficult. He sighs, looking back over the steering wheel. "If you really must know, I'll probably never talk to her again. Basically, she had a mansion, a hot tub, and a nice ass."

"Ew." she says, wishing she never asked, but relieved at the same time. Derek was just being shallow. Ha, funny thing to be relieved about.

"Ooh, my turn!" Derek bounces happily in his seat, an idiotic grin on his face. She is thoroughly tempted to punch him. "Are you really going to New York with Twinkletoes?"

"Who's Twinkle-" The name registers in her brain, and she almost laughs in spite of herself. She hesitates before answering. "No, I'm not going with _Jesse_." Like the emphasis on his name will make Derek use it…

Derek pauses, turning onto some unknown street. "Damn." he says finally. "I thought you were gonna be like 'oh, I don't know,' and then go on some big spiel, weighing all your options. Pros and cons. Crap like that. Not just come right out with your answer."

"I'm not _always _so predictable." she says, scratching at a mosquito bite on her ankle and keeping her eyes off of him. "Plus, I've had a lot of time to think."

"But don't you want _my_ opinion?"

Her breath hitches in her throat. She almost says 'since when has your opinion ever mattered to me?' but then realizes how stupid that is. She doesn't want to argue, and he's offering to actually talk. Derek never just… talks. So she merely says, "sure."

"Well, you know I'm big on risks and all that… following your dreams and sh-"

"Yes, Derek." He's rambling. She's anxious.

"This time…" he starts. He's hesitating. She's on the edge of her seat. "This time I don't think you should take the risk."

"Why?" She hates herself for not thinking before she speaks.

He keeps going down these random roads into neighborhoods that she's pretty sure are uncharted. She feels so lost.

"Well, you barely know Twinkletoes, for one." he says, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. He only thinks when he lies. She wonders what he's lying about. What his _real_ reasons are.

"And second of all, you'd be giving up your scholarship to Queen's, the school you've been studying for _all_ summer!" He reaches across her lap with one hand. Her leg twitches. But then he merely peels the law book off her sweaty legs, waving it in front of her face. His eyes never leave the road.

She grabs the book from him and places it back on her lap, suddenly feeling exposed in her short skirt.

"And last, but not least…"

He tests her patience for a moment. She sees a smirk tremble at the corners of his lips. She knows he wants a rise out of her. 'What?' she wants to shout, but she won't let Derek Venturi win.

He breathes out slowly. "You'll miss me way too much if you leave for a year." The smirk springs up on his face.

She thought she was done blushing, but a rosy red materializes on her cheeks as she realizes the truth in his words.

"No, you'll miss _me._" She reaches over and pushes his shoulder. She was never very good at flirting…

"Whatever, Grubby." Is that a trace of a smile on his lips? She'll probably never figure out the eldest Venturi. "You just keep thinking that. As if you would be able to survive New York without me." He's so smug, leaning back, one hand on the steering wheel. "The first month there and you would be begging to come home, just to see _me._"

She just shakes her head, but doesn't deny it. (That should tell you everything.)

Her phone buzzes again. Her heart drops as she opens it, fearing it's Twinklet- Jesse…

_Where are you guys? Are you okay? Mom wants to know._

Just Lizzie. They should be home by now. She types a message back.

_Just took a detour, that's all. Derek didn't want to unpack, so he kidnapped me. Go figure. We'll come home… eventually._

_Love, Case_

_

* * *

_

**AN: I felt the need to write a follow-up to Vacation With Derek… which involved Casey decision to attend Queen's instead of going to New York. ;) I was really inspired by The Daseys on twitter, too. As far as I'm concerned, they're totally canon. xD I hope you guys enjoyed this. Please review if you have the time! **


	2. Strawberries

He loves that she doesn't deny that she was going to miss him.

He can feel this weird sort of electricity in the air between them (not that he isn't used to it), but this time feels a little different.

He watches her out of the corner of his eye as her phone vibrates and she flips in open in a hurry. A smile is etched on her face as her fingers pound a reply on the keys. He can't help but wonder who the hell that smile is for.

"Who are you texting?" he asks, and feels like this smirk is going to be permanently plastered to his face whenever she's around. He's always felt like this.

"Hmm? Oh, just Lizzie." She looks up suddenly at his remark, the smile quickly vanishing from her face.

"Then why…" He raises one eyebrow, normally one of her characteristics, but he decides to try it out for effect. "Did you have that goofy grin on your face?"

Her reply is coupled with an eyebrow raise of her own. He resists the temptation to laugh. "No reason." He can't read her expression for once, but he realizes he _has_ gotten better at multitasking while driving. (In other words, watching her and the road at the same time.)

"Oh, really?" That smirk of his only grows larger. He gives a side glance towards her, and while she's distracted, he sneakily grabs her phone from her lap and opens it.

"Der-ek!" Ah, music to his ears! He scrolls through her sent messages and maneuvers out of the way as she tries to grab her phone back.

He finds it, but not before lingering on her rejection message to Twinkletoes. Suddenly he feels happier than he's felt all summer. He nearly laughs out loud as her reads her message to Lizzie, repeating the first part out loud.

"_Derek kidnapped me_? Really?" He finds pleasure in her cheeks burning bright red. "No wonder I get in trouble all of the time. Do you always lie about me like this, or was this a special occasion?"

"No!" She snatches her phone back and holds it defensively to her chest. "It was a joke, Derek! Geez. Do you even have a sense of humor?"

"Yes. And it's a whole hell of a lot better than yours. Getting me in trouble is not funny."

"Yes, because Casey's stinky feet poem is so much more entertaining than watching you getting yelled at." Her lips are pursed and she adjusts her headband before continuing, a nervous habit he's noticed many times before. "Personally, I prefer the latter."

He hates it when she uses words he doesn't know. Normally his response to her Casey-esque vocabulary is "whatever," and then some snarky comment on how obnoxious she is. And then he secretly looks up the word later on . By the end of the year last year, his English teacher told him his vocabulary skills had greatly improved.

This time was no different.

"Whatever, _Princess_." Nicknames are always useful. He currently has over 15 to use for Casey on occasions such as these. "You will never understand the art of joke making. Also, Stinky Feet was a work of art envisaged by the one and only Sir Derek-Esquire." Boom. Let's see her come up with a come-back for that one. Plus, he used _two_ of her own vocab words against her.

She laughs. He doesn't understand why. He just roasted her. "You are such a dork sometimes." she says, her mouth slightly open in an amused look.

And now he's just insulted. _No one _calls him a dork, especially his dorky stepsister.

He takes a sharp turn to the right and the car tires squeal violently against the hot summer pavement. "Derek, what are y-"

"Shh, no time for talk, Grubby. You wanted ice cream, right? Let's go get ice cream."

She looks so bemused. He swears to god, that smirk is going to freeze on his face and then he's going to have to get face correction surgery. Little does she know, a brilliant ploy is cooking in his brain. He only thinks when he schemes. And lies.

They don't talk until they find a small ice cream shop on the side of the road; "Great Scoops," it's called. He shrugs. Must be some local thing.

He orders Double Choco-Chunk. She orders Sugar-Free Strawberry. Still, they don't talk until she pulls out her wallet and goes to pay for her share.

"That's okay, Case. I've got it." He says, grabbing his own wallet from his back pocket and depositing a ten on the counter.

"Okay?" she questions, but grabs her cone anyway. "Is being called a 'dork' like your secret turn-on, or something?"

"You do know what 'dork' means, right?" he asks her, and she looks up from her ice cream, a small trace of it on the top of her lip. He gulps, looking up at her eyes. "_Stick to the plan, D." _he thinks.

"Nerd. Geek. Someone who has really odd interests." she replies, returning to her ice cream eating.

"No, I mean the _real _definition." She shakes her head.

He licks the inside of his mouth and thinks he sees her eyes flicker to his lips. If only for a moment. And then he tells her. "It's a whale's penis."

She spits out her ice cream and he's cracking up, the customers behind him glaring at his foul language. She's giving him the best expression he's ever seen in his life- a look of pure shock and awe. He's never wanted a camera more than right now. The ice cream scooper behind the counter hastily shoves his chocolate cone and change at him finally, and they go and sit on the benches outside, Casey still unable to even speak from his remark.

But that stupid pink liquid is still resting just above her lip, and he can't go through with his original plan. (Which was shoving all of his choco-chunk in her face.) No, he has something much better in mind, something that will really get her worked up.

"I can't believe you said that, Derek!" She speaks, at last! And then whacks him with her free hand. "I don't' even know what to say… Ugh, and in front of all those people, too!" He chuckles. She's so overly dramatic. Like they'll even see any of those people ever again. She keeps going. "Well I guess that's what I get for calling you… that word. You got your revenge. Happy?"

He's still staring at her lips, and his chocolate ice cream is melting, running down his hand. He hopes she doesn't notice as she's going on her long rant. "Not quite happy, yet, Princess." He never looks up. "You see, when we get home, the rents are going to blame me for this little detour. And for that, I want payment."

He leans closer to her and finally notices her eyes. They're going cross-eyed trying to stare into his, questioning what he's doing, but nevertheless beautiful. He can smell the strawberry on her breath as she breathes out "Derek?" And then she's closing her eyes…

He sticks out his finger, brushes it across the top of her lip, and sucks the sweet, sticky strawberry residue from his finger. He leans away from her and watches her as she watches him. He can almost hear her heart pounding, racing. She looks away from him, turning the brightest shade of red he's ever seen.

And suddenly he doesn't feel like eating this ice cream after all. His plan was to work _her_ up, but he can't deny this weird flippy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He stands up and leaves her to her ice cream, dumping his in the trash bin beside them. He goes to the bathroom. Doesn't come back for a full ten minutes.

"_Bad plan." _he thinks to himself. "_Very bad plan. I should have stuck with the ice cream in the face thing. Much less dangerous… well, unless Casey killed me."_

But when he returns, she's just sitting there, acting like all is right in the world and he _didn't _just lean over and seductively wipe the ice cream off her lip. And like she _didn't_ anticipate something much more than that.

They make their way back to the car with no words. Drive half an hour home with no words.

And when they do get home, they're both grounded for a week, half the luggage still waiting in the van for them to unpack. While she's grabbing her suitcase and he's grabbing his, their arms brush.

"_Damn it."_ He thinks to himself. But then she just shoots him a glower, violently plopping her suitcase down on the garage floor.

"Watch it, Venturi."

"Well maybe if you weren't such a Klutzilla, _you_ wouldn't have run into _me_!" He grabs his suitcase and swings it haphazardly, hitting her side.

"OW! DER-EK!"

And once again, the balance is restored to nature.

…Well, apart from _one thing_. He can't help but get turned on every time he smells strawberries now.

* * *

**AN: I didn't think this would get turned into a multi-chapter, but I couldn't help myself. Thank you to those reviewers who pushed me to keep going! This story is far from over, the tension needs to be resolved sometime, and I think I'm going to be doing a lot based on the Dasey twitters. I am so glad to get back into fun and light Dasey fanfiction, and I hope you all like this! Please review if you have the time. I love you guys!**


	3. Sharks

Two weeks. That's how long they ground her. And she thinks that somehow they've gotten even crazier since the baby's birth. Stricter. Maybe so that her and her obnoxious stepbrother will set a good example? Though she doesn't see how a newborn can see right from wrong let alone past the tip of his nose at this point in time.

Two weeks is all it takes her to get back on her feet and start searching for someone to spend the rest of her summer with.

"_Why?"_ She asks herself sometimes. _"I'm going to Queen's in two months anyway, so what's the point of trying to start any sort of relationship with anybody?" _But Emily is away on vacation for a month, and the good Lord knows she doesn't have many (any) female friends other than her neighbor. Plus, she keeps watching Derek sneak out of the house to go to parties. He takes Marti out to the park, an exception to the grounding, and she just knows he's flirting with all the 'hot babes' there. And _then_ she finds out that he's been visiting Kendra and her friends._ Kendra._

So why shouldn't she get out on the dating scene again? I mean, if Derek's so keen to flaunt his single status around Ontario and other surrounding provinces, doesn't she have the right to, as well?

Plus, she's really lonely.

She asks Lucy, her friend from ballet, to set her up with one of her friends. Turns out that Lucy has a cousin that lives close by. A _single _cousin. She's set to go to a restaurant with him that very weekend. And she keeps the date a secret in her back pocket - ready to unleash upon her stepbrother at any moment. She questions the integrity of the date, and her conscience nags at her a bit. She knows she's not really interested in the cousin, but catching the eye of a certain _someone _who has been neglecting her lately. But she pushes all of those thoughts to the back of her mind. Because that's where they belong, right?

Friday night, the night before her date, and she's sitting on the couch in her PJs watching _Clueless._ She had Derek pick up a few romantic comedies for her at the rental store, and although he threw them angrily at her (because they "defaced" his manly image), she knows the gesture was as kind as the eldest Venturi would display.

It's almost the end of the movie, Josh displaying a heartfelt confession to Cher, and Derek saunters into the room, slinking into his reclining chair. She pauses the movie to look at him questioningly, and he rolls his eyes at her.

"Play the damn movie, Princess. Don't let my presence stop ya."

She lets out a sigh, grabbing the remote and pressing down hard on the play button. She starts to tear up five seconds in and then-

"So, these two are supposed to be stepsibs or ex-stepsibs or something?"

She throws him a glare and pauses the movie again. "_Yes,_ Derek. I thought I didn't have to stop the movie for you."

"You don't. Who said you did?" He leans back, a content smirk on his face.

She presses down furiously on play, the moment completely ruined. And then the two actors on screen kiss. She feels her face glow red. She hasn't got a clue why.

"Wait, now they're _making out?"_

She doesn't even bother with the remote this time. "Yes, okay?" She turns her attention back to the movie, and although Derek might have ruined it, she still feels her eyes getting foggy with tears.

"Haven't you ever wanted that? Someone to spend the rest of your life with?" she asks, to no one in particular. Maybe to herself. Romcoms tend to make her sentimental. She swings her head around and sees Derek staring at her, his face twisted in a disgusted and confused expression.

"Why on _earth_ would I want that?" Her heart sinks a little. "There are too many fish in the sea for me to limit my options."

"You're horrible!" She throws the remote at his stupid smirking face and he barely manages to dodge it. Great. The one time her aim is fair, and he has to go and avoid it. He laughs and casually picks up the remote, changing it to some dumb medical show or something. She couldn't care less. And yet, she still sits there, waiting for him to say something else.

And then she realizes she hasn't unearthed the secret that she's going on a date the next day, and she can't help but feel that this is the appropriate time to reveal it.

"I'm going on a date tomorrow." she says nonchalantly, and she swears she can hear his neck crack as he whips around to look at her.

"What?" His voice cracks. She tries to conceal a smile forming on her lips. "With who? Why didn't I know about this before?"

"With _whom_, dear stepbrother." She corrects his grammar, knowing how much he hates it when she does that. "And why do you even care?"

"I don't." A few moments of silence, then- "Do you even _know_ this guy?"

She finally turns to him, her face full of all seriousness. "If _you_ can date all the fishes in the sea, why can't I find my… tuna?" _Tuna?_ Wow. He was certainly going to poke fun at that one. She silently curses herself for not coming up with something better.

"_Tuna? _Really?" God, she knew it. "See the thing is, McDonald, I don't think you're a tuna type of gal. They're too smelly… and boring. Oh wait. Maybe, if you're lucky, his smelliness will mask yours, and his boringness will supersede yours!"

She shakes her head. Since when does Derek know advanced vocabulary words? He smirks at her and she scowls. "Well at least I know the difference between good fish and bad fish." She purses her lips and he just raises one eyebrow at her. Since when does he do_ that? _That's supposed to be her thing… She continues. "At least the boring and… less fragrant tuna would never hurt a fisherman. Unlike the bloodthirsty and dangerous _shark_." Her eyes stare piercingly into his.

"So, I'm the shark in this metaphor, huh?" He leans back in his chair and sighs contently. "Awesome."

"Not if you really think about it!" She's quick to retaliate. No way is he getting to make fun of her tuna symbolism _and_ get to be the cool fish. "Sharks are terrible creatures. They attack without mercy and they're always on the hunt. Once they're done with their prey, they move straight on to the next fish and devour them. They don't think about… feelings."

He doesn't look at her. "Instinct," is all he says in reply. Her eyes glaze over with tears.

"Barbaric and inconsiderate nature, if you ask me." She says, her voice cracking. She isn't sure what she expected from him, anyway. Maybe he didn't even understand her metaphors. She gets up to leave, passing his chair. And then his hand shoots out and he grabs her around the wrist. She breathes in and hopes he doesn't notice her pounding heart or glassy eyes.

"Casey." He says softly, and her lungs suddenly aren't functioning correctly as she gets dizzy for air. She anticipates his every move… "Don't. Don't go on that date tomorrow."

She closes her eyes. It's not what she wanted him to say… or do. She breaks away from his hold a little more forcefully than she intended. He looks hurt. He _never_ looks hurt. "I'm going, Derek." She says, and it actually physically hurts her to say the words, a burning sensation forming in her chest as she looks into his eyes.

And then she walks away, leaving him there. And hopefully he'll think about what she said. And hopefully he feels _something. _But who is she kidding? He doesn't think, and he certainly doesn't _feel._

That's why she's going for the tuna, and not the shark. Truthfully, she much prefers the shark with its dark eyes and strength and swiftness… It's far more interesting than the tuna. And she actually doesn't mind the fighting sometimes. She really doesn't. But the shark isn't safe.

He could really hurt her.

And like she said before, if _he_ can date all the fishes in the sea, why can't _she?_

She tosses and turns that night, unable to get anything of her mind. (And by anything, I mean Derek.) Unable to take her restlessness anymore, she pops two sleeping pills before slipping into a deep slumber.

* * *

The next morning she wakes up early to get ready for her date, and she screams as she sees her face in the mirror. _Permanent_ marker is scribbled on her face, complete with a mustache, goatee, and the word 'sardine' written across her forehead.

She scrubs and scrubs. She tries soap, but it still doesn't come off. And then she goes at it with rubbing alcohol, and her skin gets all blotchy and red. One hour before her date, she cancels it. She can't even leave her _room_ looking like this.

So he wins, after all. And her face turns even redder as he walks into her room, laughing at her situation and then proclaiming that he's going to a party. And he's 'probably going to pick up some chicks.'

He slams the door, hurrying off to his social event, and she's absolutely livid. She knows he only added that last sentence to spite her, and there is _no way _he's going to get away with this. He _always_ forgets that she's become better at scheming since she met him, and he _always_ underestimates her.

And this time, she knows _exactly_ what buttons to push.

* * *

**AN: Hehehe, I'm evil, I know. Next chapter is going to be a lot more fun, don't worry. ;) And I'll probably write it a lot faster since I'm inspired. As you can see, I'm not following the twitter Dasey plot exactly, but a lot of it is based off of them. I hope you enjoy this and where it's going! Please review if you have the time! I love you guys. **


	4. Dances

He comes home ravenous one day. The party he had just come back from was particularly lame, and especially lacking in the food department.

He swings open the front door and rushes to the kitchen, praying that Edweirdo didn't touch his leftover pizza. But as he throws open the fridge, his eyes are not met with the pleasant sight of pepperoni, cheese, and thick crust, but rows of white cups. White, styrofoam cups with white lids and clear straws. He extracts one of the cups, angrily flipping the lid with his thumb, he finds a pink liquid inside, and the smell overwhelms him.

_Strawberry._

He grabs another cup. Pink. Another. Pink. Pink. _All pink!_ His brain starts to get foggy, the powerful smell bringing forward a memory he very much wanted to repress.

He slams the fridge door and opens the freezer, hoping to find a snack in there. But instead he is met with cartons upon cartons of strawberry ice cream.

"Damn it, Casey!" He yells, now running over to the pantry to find something, _anything_ to eat. And at that very moment, she appears in the kitchen doorway.

"What's up, _Der?_" He doesn't look at her at first, his eyes still scanning the contents of the pantry. Strawberry poptarts, strawberry nutrigrain bars, strawberry syrup…

"Why is everything-" He stops mid-question when he looks over at her. She's smiling sweetly at him, but he's not looking at her face.

She's glad in her _Babe Raider_ apparel, her midriff showing. And he notices she's cut the neckline lower too. It's like she's just wearing a freaking strip of material…

"What're you…" His sentence trails off as she saunters over to him. He gulps, a lump quickly forming in his throat.

Casey leans across him and… Oh God. Her pathetic excuse for a shirt, and her skin against his… He feels goose bumps rise on his arms as she takes one of the strawberry syrup bottles, squirts some of the sticky red substance onto her finger and begins to suck it off.

"_Oh God… Look away! Look away!" _he tells himself as he feels his eyes expand, the intoxicating smell of strawberries filling his nose.

He practically sprints away from her to the island and sits on the bar stool, placing his head in his hands and rubbing his temples, trying to think of something, _anything_ else. But then, to his horror, he hears the second bar stool being pulled out, hears her sitting next to him.

"Something wrong, Derek?" She's so close that he can feel her breath on the nape of his neck, making his hairs stand on end.

"_You mean, besides the face that you replaced __**every **__article of food in our house with strawberries?"_ he wants to say, but somehow, for some strange reason, he can't bring himself to say anything… mean.

"I... just have a headache, that's all." he says, his voice about two octaves higher than normal.

"Oh, I'm sorry." she says softly, and he's relieved when he hears the bar stool scoot out. That is, until he feels a hand on each of his shoulders.

And then Casey starts to give him a _massage._

He leaps out of the chair like he's been struck by lightning.

"Did I do something wrong?" Casey asks, her eyebrows raised in alarm. "I was just trying to help!"

"No, no!" His voice squeaks as he backs away from her. "You did everything right! I mean- I just- You, you're… I need some air!"

He bolts through the laundry room and out the back door, into the safety of his backyard. Here he can actually breathe, and process information, and _not_ have the constant issue of wanting to jump his stepsister's bones.

He allows himself time to _think, _as scary as that prospect is. And it leads him to wondering what sort of motives Casey has behind this whole seduction thing going on…

Does she seriously, actually want to _seduce _him? His mouth goes dry. No. Casey doesn't do that. Not to him. Not to any guy. But especially not to him. (Though he can't help but remember the way she closed her eyes and parted her lips when he went to wipe the ice cream off her lip during their detour.)

He shakes the memory from his mind and goes back to thinking.

Casey isn't stupid, he realizes. She doesn't take his pranks like she used to. And the permanent marker thing that happened a few days ago… yeah. She must not have liked that. So, this is her way of getting back at him? Driving him _insane?_ He didn't exactly do a good job of covering up his reaction to that strawberry ice cream thing. And she _knows_ now. She knows he has hormonal instincts that take over his… moral ones.

Curse his infernally intelligent stepsister and her ever-growing diabolical plans! (And her ability to make him use big words.)

So what is _his_ plan of action? Avoid her at all costs? Go along with this whole thing and _let _her drive him up the wall? He doesn't trust himself around her at the best of times, let alone when she's in that… costume. He knows he could do something he'll regret.

But at the same time, he's practiced self-will thus far, and if he can handle this, he can handle practically any situation with Casey, right? I mean, unless she's like… stark naked or something.

Oh God… why does he put these images in his brain?

He decides to go along with Casey's little scheme for the time being, and then if he gets too… excited, he can always skip out and run to the bathroom again. But he's determined not to let that happen. Because if he does, Casey wins. And he _cannot_ let Casey win. Ever.

He goes back inside and hears music blaring from the living room speakers. She's there, dancing and _glistening _with sweat. Damn. This is going to be harder than he thought.

She turns around and acts surprised that he's there, like she _didn't_ know he was coming. She pauses the music and looks at him with her big blue eyes. "Sorry, did you want to watch something?" she asks, and she bends over to pick up the remote… Holy mother of Mary, he can't do this.

"Actually, you know what? I think I'm gonna go upstairs and get ready for bed." He points to the stairs with his thumb, smiling nervously and backing up.

"It's 7, Derek." she says, furrowing her eyebrows and laughing at him. "And, well, I actually needed someone to critique me on my technique… If you aren't too busy or tired or anything."

She's changing her strategy on him, and he's not sure he's liking it.

"Can't Lizzie do it? I mean, I don't quite think I'm qualified." he protests, trying to get out of this somehow.

"We're the only people home right now." She practically whispers it. Nope, he's not liking this strategy at all.

But he reminds himself that fleeing to his bedroom would mean surrender. So he takes a seat in his reclining chair and smirks at her, pretending like he's totally chillz. "Well, then. Sure, Case. 'Crazy Legs' will give you a real professional critique."

"Great." She winks at him, and as soon as she turns her back to unpause the music, he lets out a sigh of relief. He thinks he can pull this off. Until he hears what's playing.

Some sort of erotic music about fevers or something blasts through the speakers, and he thinks he might have a heart attack. She's like shimmying and doing all these weird, _sexy _things with her body, and this has to be ten times worse than that time he danced with her. I mean, true they were touching and all then, but she wasn't _moving_ like this, or in the semi-nude!

He feels his face getting red and he's not sure he can take this much longer, because something very, very bad is about to happen.

Because it's not just what she's doing in front of him, but the images that are flashing in his mind. Like him, dancing _with_ Casey. In a not so appropriate way. And then her, dancing her way over to him and-

He isn't sure how long the song lasts. It could have been one minute or ten… but to him, it feels like hours - excruciatingly painful, yet disturbingly pleasurable hours.

By the time it's over, he regrets the permanent marker, the remarks about the party, going out with Kendra's friends, _everything._ He underestimated her again. And this, _this_ was the cruelest form of punishment she could ever bestow upon him. She used his hormones against him, his crazy, raging teenage hormones that make him want her so-

"Well, what did you think?" she asks, sweeping a few stray strands of hair back into place. "Be _honest,_ Derek."

There's something about her tone that makes him wonder what she's _really_ asking for. An apology, maybe? A… confession?

He can't deal with all this now. He can't tell her that he wants to see her dance all the time or taste her strawberries on his tongue or that he just does crap like going to parties and chasing girls just to distract himself from the girl that he _really_ wants but can't have because it would be so inappropriate… just like all of his freaking thoughts whenever he's around her.

He's going to flee to the bathroom, and she can win this time. He can't fight this battle.

"It was good. Good technique, there. " he says simply, standing up out of his chair and half-smiling at her. "Seriously tired, though. I'm going to go get ready for bed." He punches her on the arm and then awkwardly turns away, running up the stairs for the bathroom.

He truthfully doesn't know how many cold showers it's going to take before he can ever face her again.

* * *

**AN: …I don't even know what to say about this one. xD As always, thank you to everyone who has been reading/alerting/reviewing. You guys inspire me and encourage me to write faster! I hope you enjoyed this. Please review if you have the time! I love hearing everything you have to say. Oh, what sort of shenanigans can these two possibly get into next time? ;) **


	5. Shoes

She cries herself to sleep that night, seriously considering changing her world views on being an optimist to being a pessimist. She works herself up and creates these imaginary and wonderful fantasies in her brain, and when the situation turns up in real life, she ends up getting let down and crushed. She made a fool out of herself, dressing in clothes that were far too tight and far too low cut, not to mention dancing like a stripper! And all for what? For a guy that won't even admit his feelings... No, who won't even say the _word _'feelings' out loud.

She doesn't know why she likes him. Okay. That's a lie. He's charming and talented and funny and attractive… And he really can be sweet at the best of times. He's saved her from many-a-situation that she wouldn't have been able to get out of herself. There's no one like him that she's ever met. And she's pretty sure there's no one like him on the planet. Well, she's almost certain she wouldn't dress or act _that _way for any other guy.

But it didn't make a difference. She thought she had found the one route to him admitting _something, _at least! And he just ended up running away, _again._ She doesn't want to be the one to admit her feelings, because, well, she does enough of that. And frankly, she feels like she gave him enough incentive! She's tired of being disappointed, tired of going nowhere, and she knows he's probably scared. Heck, she is too! But she went out of her way this time, and he still didn't take the bait.

She angrily dumped the contents of the styrofoam cups in the woods that night before she went to bed. Watching the pink liquid drip and form into a sweet smelling puddle, she realized she'd never want to eat a strawberry anything ever again.

* * *

Two weeks before her first day at Queen's, and a family meeting is called. Well, 'family' as in Derek, her mom, George, and her.

They sit in the kitchen at the island, Derek and her across from their respective parents. Derek is sitting as far away from her as possible and she can't help but feel a little hurt… and scared that her whole 'prank' might have screwed everything up between them. (Whatever everything might mean.)

"So, Derek. Casey." Her mom nods at either of them like this is some kind of formal meeting and they _aren't_ sitting in the kitchen, half of them in their PJs.

"Can we hurry this up, please? I have to go to Sam's in…" Derek checks an imaginary watch on his wrist. "T minus 30 minutes, and in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly dressed for the situation." He gestures towards his fleece pants.

She rolls her eyes. "Why? I'm sure _Babe Raider_ won't mind your heinously tacky pajama bottoms, or is it _Sam_ you're trying to impress?"

He looks over at her for the first time that morning, and she feels a blush creeping on her cheeks. Last time she was in front of him, she was dancing… rather inappropriately. He smirks at her. "You're insulting _my _fashion sense? Says the girl who wears pink onesies and bunny slippers to bed."

She opens her mouth to retaliate, but then George holds his hands up to stop them. He shakes his head and looks at her mom. "This is going to be harder than we thought." he mumbles.

"What is?" Derek asks. Their parents just stare wearily at each other. "Well, get on with it!"

"Well," her mom starts unconvincingly, "we were going to discuss the prospect of you two maybe sharing an apartment instead of living on campus."

"WHAT?" Derek and her yell together.

"Why?" she questions immediately, as Derek says at the same time, "Oh no, Nora, not a good idea!"

"Okay, both of you calm down." George says. "Financially it would be more affordable. And although we have good jobs and you both have scholarships, it's hard to support a family of eight." Derek opens his mouth to say something, but his dad shoots him the eye, and he shuts up.

"Also, both George and I feel like this will help you prepare for the future, living on your own, and paying bills and cooking and such." her mom chimes in.

"That's it?" Derek asks as they sit there in silence, their talk apparently over with.

"And… the housing residence messed up and put Derek in an all girl's residency. There are no more rooms available in the boys' dorms, and we don't want him alone in an apartment." George spews out this information as quickly as he possibly can.

"F my life!" Derek yells, throwing his hands up in the air. "I don't understand why you can't just let me stay in the girls' housing! PLEASE."

He seriously looks like he's going to get down on his knees and beg when she interjects. "Well, in that case, I guess it wouldn't be too terrible. I don't mind giving up my dorm status if it benefits the _family."_ She looks daggers at him, and he turns to George again.

"Dad, I can handle the girls' residency. Seriously, I won't flirt or anything! Promise! Just_ please_ don't make me live with this monster any longer!" He jabs his finger at her, and her jaw drops in anger.

"Derek, there is no way in hell they are going to let you live there!" George's voice raises, and her mom puts a hand on his shoulder. He relaxes a bit, and then- "And that was incredibly rude to Casey. Apologize to your sister!"

"Step…" Derek says softly, and it's so quiet that she can barely hear it. "Sorry, Case." He doesn't look at her when he says it, just the floor. "I guess we can try the apartment thing."

And then he walks away. Just like that. It seems that the matter is solved. He's done with everything. And honestly, she is too. (Whatever everything might mean.)

* * *

Two days later, the 'rents ask both her and Derek to take Marti out for the day. George is busy with work, her mom is taking Simon to a check-up at the doctor's, and Lizzie and Edwin have a birthday party to go to, so they're stuck with the second youngest McDonald-Venturi.

Their task is to find her some brown school shoes and keep her entertained for as long as Nora needs them to. Which could be a while.

They drive to the shoe store, both attempting to ignore the annoying questions from Marti as their car ride seems to get longer and longer.

Why do I have to go back to school? Why can't I get purple sparkly shoes instead of icky brown ones? Why do I have to wear socks? Why is there so much strawberry ice cream in the freezer?

"Okay, Marti, we're here!" she says, relieved that she doesn't have to answer that last question.

They make their way into the store and Marti grabs her hand, and then one of Derek's. "Swing me!" she says eagerly before they get to the curb, and they do. Marti squeals in delight and she secretly wishes she could be young and carefree again. She glances over and Derek and he's smiling, a real, genuine smile, and she feels her heart leap in her chest.

"_Stop it."_ she tells herself. Nothing good can come of her liking him. And she's pretty sure she screwed up every chance of him ever liking her… or even looking at her seriously again.

Ten minutes into the shoe shopping and they're getting dirty looks from all the customers as Marti screams about not wanting 'poop colored shoes.'

"Come _on, _Smarti! They're really not bad. Think of… chocolate! Not poop!" Oh, Derek, you are _ever_ so convincing.

"No, Smerek! I want a pretty color!" Marti whines, practically throwing herself on the floor.

Wow, this is embarrassing. She kneels down beside her stepsister and pats her on the back, attempting to be comforting. "Marti, you know we have to get the brown ones, because purple won't match with everything!"

"But Lily Anderson had pink shoes last year, and she wore them with all of her clothes, and it looked fine to me!"

Derek sighs, kneeling down beside his sister with her. "_You're_ not Lily Anderson, and _this_ is a public place, so you need to zip it, or I'll take away Sir Monks-a-lot tonight!"

She's impressed with his disciplinary actions at first, but this only makes it worse. Marti starts rolling on the floor, screaming, crying, and kicking.

"Well, damn." Derek says quietly, and then he whispers to her, "what do we do now?" She shakes her head and stares desperately at the eight year old throwing a tantrum.

A sales associate approaches them. _Oh, great. _"Sir? Miss?" He addresses them both. "You need to get your child out of here immediately. She is disturbing the other customers!"

Wait, _your_ child? At first she wants to laugh, because the idea that she would have a child at this age is so ridiculous, but then she realizes that the sales person thinks that Marti is _her and Derek's_ daughter. She gulps, a slight blush rising on her cheeks.

"No, this isn't our child." she says quickly. The salesman raises his eyebrows. "I mean, we're responsible for her, but she isn't, like, our daughter or anything!" She laughs nervously, and turns to Derek, pleading with her eyes for some sort of reinforcement.

"Yeah, we're leaving now." Derek says as the salesman just taps his foot impatiently. He picks up the kicking and screaming Marti and hoists her over his shoulder. "I'll take her outside, you buy those shoes on the shelf right there." He points to some brown flats that look Marti-sized. "Okay? See ya." He dips out of the shop, leaving her to the irritated glares and whispering.

She apologizes about 50 times before leaving the store, 'poop colored shoes' in hand. He's sitting on the curb with the little fiend that caused all the commotion in the first place. She's just sniffling now with her head in her hands.

Derek watches her approach, and he nudges Marti softly with his elbow. "Now, what do you say to Casey?"

Marti looks up, little tears reflected in her eyes. She sticks out her bottom lip. "Sorry, Casey."

"Good." Derek says tenderly. "Now give her a hug." She bends down to give her stepsister a hug, and then Marti takes the bag of shoes from her hands.

"Wow, what did you do?" she whispers, leaning closer to Derek.

"Just a little Smarti-Smerek talk, that's all." he says, grinning proudly at his sister. She feels her heart melt a little.

They all get up and go to walk to the car when Marti takes their hands again, only this time she brings them together in the middle, making her and Derek hold hands. She feels butterflies in her stomach and her cheeks turn a brilliant shade of red.

"You guys are good parents!" Marti giggles, skipping across the parking lot to The Prince, leaving them there, their hands intertwined.

She makes to let go, but then Derek laces his fingers with hers, and they walk all the way to the car holding hands. She can barely breathe, or get this stupid little smile off her face. She doesn't know why he chooses to keep hold, but she can barely think straight, so she doesn't really care.

The walk to The Prince is unsatisfactorily short, and as he releases her hand she feels a little sad. But then he stops her before she can get in the car, their bodies so close she can feel the heat radiating between them.

"I'm sorry too, Case. For everything." And then he kisses her on the cheek, and she can feel the spot where his lips touched burning. She dizzily gets into the car, Marti giggling, having watched the whole thing from her booster seat out the car window.

So… the strawberries, the _Babe Raider_ clothes, and even the stripper dancing… she decides it was all worth it. She gets out of the car and sees Derek beaming at her before rushing inside to help Marti try on her shoes and show them off to the 'rents. And then she touches the ever-burning spot on her cheek that night before she goes to sleep.

She smiles. He's sorry… for everything.

(Whatever everything might mean.)

* * *

**AN: Don't worry. The meaning of **_**everything**_** will be revealed soon enough. ;) And things can't go swimmingly for Derek and Casey for long, especially when they get to university, so I'm far from done with this fanfic. I can't believe I wrote this in less than 3 hours. I've never been so inspired… I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I can't wait to hear what you have to say! Love you all! **


	6. Hand Holdings

Holding Casey's hand and kissing Casey on the cheek and telling Casey he was sorry was probably the mushiest, sweetest thing he had ever done for a girl. Ever. The truth is, he doesn't hold hands with the girls he goes out with. And he certainly doesn't kiss them on the cheek or anything. And apologies were never his strong suit. But he realizes that Casey's hand fits perfectly in his own, and it's soft and warm, and he likes the feeling of her fingers laced with his. And he likes the smoothness of her cheek against his lips. And he especially likes the way she smiles at him and looks at him like there's no one else in the world.

All of this is very scary to him.

But the scariest thing is, now he wants to do _more_ sweet and mushy things for Casey. Very, _very _scary.

It's not like he's going to stop pranking her. That would just be… wrong. But maybe the pranks will be less frequent. And less… terrible?

And since he _is_ a genius when it comes to pushing all of Casey's buttons, maybe, just maybe he can figure something out that will get her worked up _and _make her happy at the same time.

* * *

"Wake up, Spacey! We're sneaking out!" He tugs on her ear as she lies in her bed, obviously having fallen asleep during a study session, her head resting on a law book.

"What? Derek…" she says groggily, and flips over, swatting him away with one arm.

"Oh, no you don't! It's 6:30 and we have a tight schedule to stick by." He grabs her wrist and pulls her up. Her hair falls messily in her face and she groans, pushing it out of her eyes.

"What are you doing to me?" she asks, still half asleep.

"We're going to Toronto, Princess." He smirks as she sits up, looking at him as if he's insane.

"Right now? I'm not ready!" Oh no, here comes the freaking... "I don't have my sneaking out clothes ready! And I haven't made a list! I haven't plannedfor this! No. No way!" She crosses her arms and looks at him challengingly.

He just rolls his eyes. "You don't _plan_ to sneak out. You just do it. And remember the _last_ time you made a list? Not a good idea. Now, get up, choose an outfit, and let's get going. You can do your makeup in the car or something." He gently pulls her up out of bed by the arms, and she lumbers over to her wardrobe.

"What do I wear? What sort of occasion is this? What's the weather like? Where are we-"

He is tempted to slap himself on the forehead. "It's a surprise. Just wear something cute." he says, winking. And then he makes his way to the door, trying not to laugh at the expression on her face. He doesn't know what she's thinking right now, but he can only guess that it's something hilarious.

"Fine, but you know I _hate_ surprises!" she whispers harshly as he exits her room.

He waits for her in the living room for about ten minutes. She comes down the stairs looking incredibly nervous and treading lightly so she doesn't make any noise. He chuckles as one of the stairs squeaks and her eyebrows raise in alarm.

She looks… good. Even without any makeup or anything. She's wearing this pleated skirt and scoop neck shirt and his breath sort of hitches in his throat when he sees her.

"Okay, you don't have to walk _that_ slow. The 'rents are not going to come upstairs and ask what we're doing, trust me. I've done this many times before." he says, making his way to the stairwell and gesturing for her to walk faster. He tries not to stare too much.

"I'm not used to this!" she whispers, holding the rail and stepping down on her tippy toes.

"Seriously, you don't even have to whisper! Everyone is awake! I only call it 'sneaking out' because we're going without their permission!" he says impatiently.

"Derek, they'll hear you!" He thinks his eyes are going to permanently stay in the back of his head if he keeps rolling them like this.

It takes her like five minutes to get down the stairs, at which time he's considering picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder, because that would probably be less of an effort. But finally they're outside and he's pulling The Prince out of the driveway.

After a few moments of silence and Casey doing her makeup, she snaps her compact shut and turns to him.

"Why are you doing this?" she asks, and it comes across as harsh, but then she says- "I mean, why are you taking me with you? This is like a party or something, right?"

Truth be told, _he_ doesn't even really know why he's doing this. To be spontaneous and romantic? Isn't that what she likes? Well, not the spontaneous part. He threw that in there for his own fun. But they're not, like, _together_ or anything. They haven't really… come to that consensus or anything. So he has no explanation. He can't call it a date. He can't tell her that he wants to make her happy or hold her hand again. Damn it. He didn't really think this out.

"Don't ask questions. Just enjoy my act of kindness for once. Oh, and my awesome company." (Smooth, Venturi.)

"Derek…" she says slowly, and he frowns.

"_Don't make me do this now."_ he thinks. _"I am not ready to admit these weird…feelings."_ He's still really scared. He just wants take her out and have a nice time without questions. Is that too much to ask?

"Can you tell me," she continues, "what you meant by _everything_ the other day? When you said you were sorry for everything?"

He glances out of the corner of his eye and sees her looking at him inquisitively. Crap. What's he supposed to say to this?

He takes a deep breath and thinks that maybe, for once, telling the truth could actually be okay. Well, some of the truth at least. "I'm sorry for… For one, the permanent marker thing." he says. He watches the corners of her mouth turn up a bit. "And for being a… shark sometimes." This is tough. Much more difficult than lying. "And mostly… for not saying stuff that I really want to say. And making you upset."

She stares at him, her eyes wide. "What sort of stuff?"

"What is this, 20 Questions?" he snaps back, a little more defensive than he intended. She doesn't say anything back, just leans back in her chair and crosses her arms. And there he goes _again,_ making her upset. He just… he can't say it.

"I'm sorry, Casey! I really am." he says desperately. "I just… I… like spending time with you, okay?" He nearly yells it out, and he feels this horrible feeling in his stomach like he's going to throw up. But he sees her smiling, and he thinks things might be okay. "I _like_ fighting with you and getting you worked up about stupid stuff." He thinks he might be choking back his dinner as he swallows, this terrible taste in his throat. It takes everything in him to continue. "So, I'm just… I wanted to take you somewhere because I thought it would be fun, and I… I'm trying to show you that I don't hate you."

Yeah, that's all she's getting from him tonight. He can't muster the strength to continue that sentiment. So hopefully knowing that he doesn't hate her is good enough. Because right now he can't come right out and say that he loves her.

Wait. He_ loves _her?

He sees her cheeks turning red. And, oh God, he hopes it's not out of anger. But then a huge smile breaks out on her face, and she speaks. "I… don't hate you either." she says slowly.

"Good." he says simply, and feels a smile spread across his face as well. He can't help it… And then he takes one of his hands off the steering wheel and holds his open palm towards her. She reaches for it, and they're holding hands again. As if it's the most natural thing in the world and they are actually a couple or something. Like they just admitted… something else. Rather than the fact that they don't hate each other.

And they continue this way, the entire two hours to Toronto. Even when she falls asleep, her head resting on the seat, her hand is still in his. God knows _he _isn't going to let go if he can help it.

They arrive at their destination and he pushes a strand of hair behind her ear to wake her up. "We're here." he says softly, and she opens her eyes, grinning.

"Where are we?" she asks, holding her head up and looking round at the window.

"Get out. You'll see." He says, smirking and then turning to get out of the car himself. He can hear Casey gasp as soon as he steps out.

"Oh my gosh, Derek! This is beautiful!"

He swings around to the other side of the car and they both look up at the giant CN Tower glowing red and white against the night sky, the other buildings seeming to cower in its presence. Casey grabs his left hand and he feels stomach flip, but not in an unpleasant way this time.

"Want to go inside now?" he asks, filled with this overwhelming feeling of what can only be described as glee as he watches her face light up.

"We can go inside!" she questions excitedly, and then- "What are we waiting for?"

She practically drags him into the tower, and as he hands the worker their tickets, he can't help but think this is starting to feel more and more like a date. And this is _the_ most freaking romantic thing he's done in his life.

For a girl that isn't even his girlfriend.

They're up on the glass floor level and he sees her shiver, so he takes off his leather jacket and, without words, slips it around her shoulders. He can feel his heart pounding viciously in his chest. She leans her head against his shoulder and they stare at the incredible view. Somehow he can't even concentrate on the skyscrapers and the lights and the city beneath his feet. All he can think about it the gorgeous girl beside him…

They only stay for an hour, but it feels like forever. A good forever.

The car ride home is filled with and blasting music that they both like (aka All American Rejects), and singing, and talking about Queen's, and bantering, and it's them. It's practically perfect.

They're home and they get out of the car. His hand finds the small of her back and he gently guides her inside, breathing a sigh of relief when the front door isn't locked. He thinks it's funny when she freaks, but if she knew she'd have to scale the tree outside her window to get back inside… he doesn't want to think about her reaction.

"Want to watch a movie? It's only midnight, and I took a two hour nap in the car…" she says, and he knows she doesn't want the night to end as much as he doesn't.

"Sure." he says, and he sits down on the couch and watches her slip_ The_ _Bounty Hunter_ into the DVD player. She sits next to him, and soon he has his arm around her, and she's snuggled up to his side, still in his leather jacket.

He doesn't know what the hell this is. It's like they're going backwards or something. They go on a romantic date, they cuddle and watch a movie, and _then_ they confess? It doesn't quite make sense to him, but he currently doesn't give a damn, because he hasn't had to admit any real feelings, and yet she's still sitting here in his arms.

He thinks they've come to some sort of consensus now. He's not exactly sure what it might be, but he likes it. A lot.

What happens at the end of _The Bounty Hunter? _She doesn't know. She falls asleep twenty minutes after it starts. He stays awake for a while, not really paying attention to the movie. He slowly drifts into a peaceful slumber, his head resting on Casey's, his dreams filled with nothing but her…

Yeah. He loves her.

* * *

**AN: I just wanted to let you guys know about my schedule. I'll probably be updating Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays from now on, because that's when I have my break and have time to write. :)**

**I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm trying to take a unique approach to this situation, because I feel as though Derek and Casey are kind of in an odd predicament to begin with. And of course, Derek's a big baby and won't admit his feelings, and Casey's pretty much taking what she can get from him right now. ;) **

**There's a lot that's going to happen in the next chapter, and I can't wait to hear your guys' reactions! Please review if you have the time! Love you!**


	7. Pancake Fights

"Shit."

She feels herself sliding and something being removed from behind her back. "Casey, wake up!" She hears a harsh whisper and then someone shakes her lightly. "The 'rents are coming upstairs!"

Her eyes bolt open as she realizes she's still leaning on Derek, and immediately her reflexes kick in. She practically flings herself to the other side of the couch, and Derek jumps on his recliner. He flips on the T.V. and she stares at it as if the news is the most interesting thing in the world.

George comes in the room rubbing his eyes, still in his pajamas. "Gee, you two are up early…" He looks at Derek. "And dressed already?" Then he turns to her, and her face turns bright red as she realizes- "And Casey is wearing Derek's jacket?"

Derek looks at her, his eyes wide in alarm. She shakes her head, not knowing what to do. And George is staring confusedly between the two of them.

All it takes is a second, and Derek is springing into action. "What?" he says, seemingly angry. "Casey, why are you wearing my jacket?"

He must be rubbing off on her, because she can think of a lie pretty easily. "It was a joke, George. I wanted to see how long Derek would go without noticing I was wearing his jacket."

"Not funny, freak." Derek says, holding out his hand. "Give it back."

"_It's a good thing George is half asleep…"_ she thinks. Her stepfather merely shrugs and heads back into the kitchen, scratching his head as she takes off the leather jacket and chucks it Derek's way.

As soon as George is out of sight, she breathes a sigh of relief and then looks at Derek. His face is pale white and he looks terrified.

"Derek-" she starts, and then he motions for her to be quiet.

"I'm not feeling so good." he says, swallowing. "I think I'm going to… go puke." He runs up the stairs and she's left there, sitting awkwardly on the couch and feeling more lost and confused than ever.

* * *

He doesn't avoid _her_, but he avoids the topic of feelings. Like it's going to kill him if he even mentions the 'f word'…

She doesn't complain, though, because he holds her hand when they go out on drives or for ice cream. (She never orders strawberry, though.) And even though he won't admit how he feels about her, she can tell from the way he acts. He doesn't flirt with other girls or even attempt a second glance at them. And she's grateful, she really is. And happy.

But how long can _this_ last? Just two people holding hands and going on 'dates' together… Neither of them willing to admit how they really feel. No kissing, no touching, no words of true affection. She thinks she just might snap one day.

If he doesn't snap first.

* * *

One night her mom asks them to cook dinner for the kids so that she and George can go to the parent-teacher orientation at the school. She happily agrees, but doesn't really understand why her mom thought Derek would be any help.

He leans on the kitchen counter and he's twirling a spatula. "All I know how to make is mac and cheese and cereal! What am I supposed to do?" he says when she takes the spatula from his hands and hits him with it.

She sighs, grabbing a bowl from the cabinet and the eggs from the fridge. "I'm going to _teach_ you how to make pancakes."

"Pancakes for dinner?" he questions, and she raises an eyebrow. "Awesome!" He takes the bag of chocolate chips from the counter and begins to eat them.

She grabs the chocolate chips from him and replaces it with an egg, and then puts her hand over his and attempts to help him crack it. Derek slams down too hard on the bowl and the contents of the egg go flying… all over her.

She gasps, stepping back and examining the damage. "Thanks, Der." she says sarcastically, and goes to get a paper towel. She only turns her back for a second, but that's all it takes… When she tries to resume her egg-cracking duty, Derek is standing there, his fist full of flour, a smirk on his face.

"What… are you doing?" she asks, even though she knows what's coming. His reply is a chuckle, and he tosses the flour right in her face.

"That's it, Derek!_"_ she yells angrily. "You are _so_ going to get it!"

She can barely see, but she manages to find the carton of eggs and she starts chucking them wildly at any moving object she can see.

"Ow! Jeez, Case!" Derek yells in the commotion, and as her vision clears, she sees him grab the bag of chocolate chips and attempt to use it as a shield. She runs over to him, smashing the egg over his head and getting the goop in his hair. She's laughing now as he throws flour on her clothes and she races over to the pantry, disbanding her eggs and grabbing the syrup.

"Oh, no… Not the syrup!" Derek backs up slowly, and she sees a trace of a smile on his face.

"Yep…" she says, a huge grin on her face. "Prepare to get syrup-ed!" She rushes forward and squirts the sticky substance all over him, but in her haste she begins to slip on one of the egg yolks that must have fallen on the floor. She grabs onto Derek for balance and they both land in a heap on the kitchen floor.

She's on top of him and they're both laughing and out of breath. She looks down at him and smiles.

"Ha, you have a chocolate chip stuck to your face…" she stretches out her hand and picks it off, popping it into her mouth. He gives her these wide eyes, and her cheeks turn crimson as she realizes what she just did.

"Yeah… well you have flour all over yours." He reaches out and brushes her cheek with his hand. And then he squints, looking closer at her face. "I've never noticed that you have freckles before."

"I… get them during the summer." She's breathless as she answers, her lungs not seeming to function properly. "And you… have these hazel specs in your eyes…"

Derek stares at her, and their faces seem to move just a little bit closer until- "And you're… kind of crushing me right now."

She looks away from him and sees that he's right. "Oh, sorry." she says softly, and she quickly gets up, brushing off her pants… though it doesn't really help. "I'll go get some wipes." she offers, although she doesn't think they could possibly compensate for the mess they've made. The kitchen is a wreck.

She steps over the giant pile of flour and grabs some wipes from the pantry, handing one to Derek. They both clean their faces in silence. Supremely awkward silence.

"Oh, you missed a spot." she tells him when they're done, and she takes her wipe and gently swabs his face with it.

He just stares at her intensely and she stops wiping his face, her hand falling to her side and her body moving towards his. She takes a step forward-

"I'm… going to go take a shower." Derek says. "…get the egg out of my hair." He motions to the kitchen door, and then he's gone. Again.

And she's left to clean up the disastrous kitchen. And wonder what the _hell_ just happened.

* * *

It's only a few days before they head off to Queen's and… something happens. She's almost done packing, (of course) when she goes into the bathroom to retrieve her toiletries. Normally she knocks. It's just a habit one picks up after living in a family of seven. But for some reason it doesn't cross her mind this day… and of all the days…

Derek is standing there in a towel, bare chest and all. Her breath hitches in her throat and she turns around to leave, but it's too late. He's already seen her, both of their eyes are wide in shock, both of them quickly turning crimson.

She pretends like nothing happened and goes about her business. "I'm just… packing some stuff." she says casually, and maneuvers her way around her half naked stepbrother. It was bound to happen eventually, living in a house together for four years… but she's freaking out even more than if she would have found him in a towel a few years prior. Because they never said it aloud, but she knows that they have both come to the conclusion that they want each other. Badly.

Whether they are waiting for some romantic moment, or until Derek finally grows some balls, (or however long he can get away with not admitting anything), she doesn't think she can take it anymore. She needs to leave before she does something… crazy.

She grabs her things from the bathroom cabinet, spinning around and making for the door as quickly as possible. But she sees him just staring at her, stuck in the same position, and her heart starts pounding.

"Casey…" he says slowly, and she's dropping all of her crap on the floor, running over to him and taking his face in her hands. Their lips crash together hungrily and he wraps his arms around her waist, deepening the kiss. She can feel his bare skin on hers and she gets goose bumps up and down her arms. His tongue begs for entrance into her mouth and she grants him access, her hands sliding down his bare chest.

Then he breaks from her, breathing heavily. She stares at him confusedly, her head spinning out of control and her heart working overtime.

"Case… I can't do this." he whispers. "Not now." She feels her heart sink. He leaves without anymore words, and she feels her knees getting weak. She puts the lid down on the toilet and sits there, shaking.

She's stupid. So stupid. He's half naked for god's sake…. and she just… jumped him. In their bathroom. Their unlocked bathroom with their parents and siblings home and… oh god, she's so stupid. She couldn't even wait for an appropriate moment- until they confessed, or got to Queen's, or _something _at least. She's never one to make irrational decisions or act on an impulse… but Derek…

She's snapped.

She puts her face in her hands and just cries.

* * *

**AN: Sorry it took me so long to update! I was super busy this weekend. But I was really inspired to write this chapter as there are NEW Daseys on twitter, and they are super awesome! I totally stole the whole pancake fight and dialogue from them, so all credit goes to ScrappyVenturi and Keenerzilla on twitter for that. ;) I hope you guys liked this chapter, and I hope you're all excited to see what comes next! Please review if you have the time. I love hearing from you!**


	8. Parties

He sits in his room and thinks about how much of an idiot he is. The girl of his dreams just full-on tried to make out with him in the bathroom, and he pushed her away. He supposes it was the reasonable thing to do… to wait until they get to university and don't have to worry about people walking in on them or anything like that.

And he admits, he's guilty. They still haven't really confessed anything to each other. And he wants to tell her he loves her before they… do anything. He is beginning to freak himself out with these feelings and this want (need) to express them.

He just figures that it's the best thing to do. And he really doesn't want to mess this up with _her_ of all people. He needs to do this the right way. The rational way.

But since when is he the rational one?

* * *

The trip to Queen's ends with some tearful goodbyes between Nora and Casey, and lots of… hugging. He's almost glad to get a warning from his dad that if he messes up the apartment, he is 'beyond dead,' because he's tired of all the sentimental-ness going on.

It's awkward and painful as they unpack their belongings in the kitchen. Nora and his dad stayed to help for a bit, but they had left Simon and Marti (and Edwin) under Lizzie's care, so they wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Their hands reach for the same pan at the same time, and he feels her touch for the first time since the… bathroom encounter.

He wants to say something to her but he's doesn't trust his mouth right now. The only thing he can think to talk about is how much he likes her, and this is hardly the appropriate time and place to say such things. So they unpack in silence.

* * *

The first time he talks to her after they move in is a Monday. He's already been to two hockey practices, invited to a party, and asked for his number by six different girls. He's made friends with the guys on his team, and they are the ones that invite him to the party in the first place. And those girls? They're a mob of immature giggly things that cluster around the hockey rink like there are gods playing or something. He tells them 'why don't you give me _your_ number?' so he can pretend to put it into his phone and never bother calling them.

Casey has been studying, naturally, and doing homework and boring lawyer stuff. He's been avoiding her in person, but he can't say the same for his conscience. Thoughts of her never seem to leave his mind.

She's been looking a little lonely lately (hmm, wonder why), and he's been _feeling _a little lonely lately, so he asks her if she wants to go to the party with him.

She stares at him for a while, and he just _knows_ she's contemplating what 'with him' might possibly mean. But then she nods her head yes and goes back to looking at her calculus homework.

He needs to fix this… _thing_ between them, but he doesn't know how or when or where to do so.

* * *

By the time the party rolls around, he's a complete mess, unable to think about anything except the girl who's sitting in the seat next to him in the car ride over to the dorms. He's gotten plenty of kisses before (I mean, come on, he _is_ Derek Venturi), but none of them quite had the same effect as hers. She has ensnared his mind…

He notices her hands are on her lap, far from his, far from the summer when they held each other's hands with ease and could talk about anything and everything… except, of course, their feelings for one another.

It's like they didn't even show up in the same car as they arrive at the party. He walks behind her as they make their way inside. She plops down in the first available seat on the couch- next to a couple making out. He sees his hockey buddies immediately, and he heads over to them, but debates whether to go back and get Casey. She really doesn't look like she wants to talk to him though, so he decides against it.

The boys are all talking about stupid stuff and drinking beers and no one's even dancing. It doesn't help that the music sucks. He decides that this is probably the lamest party he's ever been to. And he can't stop looking back at Casey who is now alone on the couch, the… enthusiastic couple having moved into their own private room.

She's staring at her cell phone as if at any moment someone is going to call, flipping it over in her hands. And she's biting her lip, staring off anxiously into the distance with those beautiful blue eyes…

"Dude, you've been looking at that chick all night long. Why don't you just go over and talk to her?" One of the hockey players, Jake, says, gesturing towards Casey.

"No, I'm good. Really." He turns away from his stepsister and tries to concentrate on something, _anything_ else.

"Who is she, anyway? And why is she sitting by herself?" Okay, he officially doesn't like Jake and his questioning.

"She's just some girl I had a crush on in high school." he lies, and it comes out that easily. "And she's pretty… shy."

Jake laughs. "And you didn't have the balls to tell her you liked her that whole time? Come on, man." Jake turns him around by the shoulders and gives him a shove in Casey's direction. He stumbles forward and she's staring at him like he's an idiot.

"What do you want?" she asks, crossing her arms and glaring at him angrily.

"I just…"

He glances back over his shoulder and sees the hockey team observing the whole situation. "_Shit."_ he thinks. _"This is __**really**__ not how I wanted to do this."_

"You asked me to this party and you didn't even acknowledge my existence the entire time we were in the car." she says, still glowering at him. "You've been avoiding me the whole time we've been at Queen's, and I know… I know that whole thing in the bathroom was uncalled for, but I didn't think you would just stop… talking to me!" Her cheeks flush crimson as she finishes, but she sits up straight, holding her ground. "So, what do you want?"

"Casey…" he says slowly, looking into her blue eyes. He has to think of a reason as to why he's standing there stupidly. But he can't think of anything. For once, the lord of the lies is stumped. He can't think of anything to say other than the truth. It's not some romantic dinner or walk on the beach, and he's not sure she's going to be happy with him, but he figures, _hell_, this is just a good a time as any.

And frankly, he's tired of keeping all of these feelings inside.

"Casey, I love you." he says loudly, and it's like everyone around him has suddenly gone silent.

"Damn." he hears behind him. "I didn't tell him to say _that."_

And Casey is just giving him these wide eyes, and he can only assume that she's frozen to the spot. And he takes that as a cue to go on…

"I love you, and I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. But I know it's real and I know it's you... And it has _always_ been you. I was just a really big jerk and I was so scared and I-"

He's cut off as she leaps up and throws her arms around him, kissing him full on the lips. He is shocked at first, but then he leans into her kiss, snaking his arms around her waist again. He lifts her up and her back arches against his hands, and this time it's her tongue that begs for entrance. And then her hands are in his hair, and he's seriously never felt so good in his entire life. Because, _damn,_ she is the best kisser, and he's wanted this for _so _long.

She tastes like perfection, and mind is just spinning. He can't even think straight as their lips move simultaneously. Finally they break apart, both of their cheeks flushed and their breathing heavy. She smiles at him, her arms still around his neck. And he can't help but break out into this huge grin.

He can hear again, and there are cat calls and whistles. Someone yells for them to get a room. He hears Jake. "Just some girl you had a crush on? Yeah right!"

He laughs and places his forehead against hers, still dizzy from that whole… experience. "Do you want to get out of here?" he asks, and her smile only widens.

"Yes." she says breathlessly, and he kisses her once more before grabbing her hand and making their way to the exit.

They get in The Prince and they're holding hands again and he doesn't know what's next, but he doesn't care, because she's with him. _With _him, with him. He can hardly believe this isn't another crazy dream.

They've arrived at their apartment when she leans over and kisses his cheek, telling him that she loves him too.

And just when he thought things couldn't get any better.

* * *

**AN: Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been super busy lately… But hopefully you will happy to learn that this story is definitely not over! ;) Please review if you have the time! You know I love hearing your feedback!**


	9. Hockey Games

She's never been happier in her entire life. Holding hands on campus, going to hockey practices, and late night escapades with her boyfriend have evoked new emotions in her that she never thought she'd have. He makes her absolutely giddy, and she has a feeling he's feeling the same way.

There is rarely a moment when they're away from each other, and when she is away from him he's still on her mind. She thought Derek was an obsession of hers _before,_ but now she realizes he was merely a hobby. She feels cheesy and mawkish saying it, but he is her everything now, and she honestly doesn't know how she waited four years to get together with him.

They meet after class every day, greeting each other with a kiss and linking hands. He carries her backpack for her like a gentleman, and when they get home she cooks him a delicious meal. When they go to hockey practices, she screams her lungs out, and the rest of the admiring fans shoot them jealous glances when they leave together.

And then, when they get home, he finds a spot on the couch, and she finds a spot on his lap, and they talk and cuddle and laugh for hours, sometimes falling asleep in each other's arms, still wearing their clothes. Or sometimes they change into their pajamas and agree to sleep in each other's bedrooms. After a while, she believes that it might be impossible for her fall asleep without his arms encircling her.

Eventually, all of his clothes end up in her dresser and then all of his stuff on top of her dresser, and they just end up sharing a room. They joke that George and her mom should have just bought a one bedroom apartment; it would have cost them a lot less.

She thinks things can't get any more perfect. She is in love with the most amazing guy in the world, and he loves her back. He doesn't force her to do anything she doesn't want, and he respects her. She loves nothing more than making him happy, and he makes _her_ happier than anything.

But bliss can only last so long, right?

She tries not to think about anything that could possibly ruin this.

* * *

One day after class she is surprised by him with a date. He brings her socks and a jacket and she isn't really used to all this spontaneous stuff, and she doesn't normally like surprises, but Derek just might change that for her…

He ends up taking her to the ice-skating rink. He laces up her skates for her and guides her onto the ice, one arm on her waist for balance, and the other grasping her hand so that he's behind her and helping her stay stable. She realizes she's not too bad at this skating thing, and soon she's making her way around the rink with ease.

But she _also_ realizes that if she does fall, he's going to catch her, and that could require a lot more touching than if she was actually good at skating.

She pretends to slip and fall, but her plot doesn't work as planned, and she takes him down with her. They're both breathless from laughing as her back and butt hit the ice and he lands on top of her.

"Thanks for cushioning my fall, McDonald." He smirks at her when he finally stops laughing.

"You're perfectly welcome, Venturi." She winks at him and then he leans down to kiss her. She's so cold, the back of her head and back and legs pressed against the ice, but she couldn't care less as she kisses him back.

But then they are interrupted by an angry worker who asks them to 'please take their display of affection else ware.' It's only then she realizes that they're making out in the middle of the rink while others are skating around them. She laughs uncertainly as Derek gets up and pulls her up beside him. She can hardly comprehend the effect he has on her… making her able to forget everything and everyone else around her.

"Want to go get some dinner?" He asks, and she nods, willing to go wherever he wants her to.

They go to a small little restaurant and order chocolate cheesecake for dessert, and for some reason she feels rebellious whenever she's around him, so she smashes some of the cake in his face. And then all hell breaks loose. They leave money for the dinner on the table and run, and she can't believe how reckless she's become, and how fun it is to be free and not have a worry in the world.

That night they fall asleep on the couch again, and when she wakes up in his arms she thinks she is the luckiest girl in the world, and she loves the way he's changed her. She's still very much Casey, but with less anxiety and less fears. And much less wanting to be perfect… because he makes her feel beautiful and special no matter what.

* * *

A huge hockey game is coming up - the Gaels verses the Mustangs - and she might not know much about hockey, but she knows they're rival teams, and Derek is getting very nervous.

The morning before game, he sits in the bathroom and hovers over the toilet. She wakes up to the sound of him getting sick, and she rushes to his aid, grabbing him a glass of water and stroking his back soothingly.

"Der… you're going to do just fine. Believe me. You are amazing in practice, and it's not going to be any different for this game." He flushes the toilet and then grabs the glass from her and takes a swig, leaning back against the bathtub. She scoots beside him, and normally she would be totally disgusted by him being sick and the gross bathroom floor, but right now she is only concerned for his well being.

She grabs his hand and leans her head against his shoulder. He's pale, but his complexion starts to come back as she rubs her thumb along his hand, telling him he's going to be okay.

"Thanks, Case." he says slowly, looking down at her and smiling. "I would kiss you, but…"

She smiles back at him and leans up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you." she says softly against his cheek. "I'm going to make us some lunch, okay?"

He nods. "I love you too." She doesn't think she'll ever get tired of those words. She stands up and pulls him with her, and soon they're enjoying an appetizing meal of pasta primavera, Derek reporting that he's feeling a lot better.

The game begins at three, and she kisses him goodbye as he goes to do warm ups. Both of them are worried about the outcome of the game. She knows he's concerned about winning, but she's more concerned about what's going to happen to _him_ if they don't win.

She's wearing his practice jersey and his leather jacket, and she's probably the most enthused fan in entire arena. Her voice is going to go hoarse by the end of the game, but her fervor seems to be working on Derek. He has never played better in his life, and the team pulls together, scoring six goals. The crowd is going wild at the end of the game as the Gaels pile together on the ice, and she's still screaming in celebration. She looks down and sees Derek beaming up at her.

She rushes down through the stands and the throngs of people, and pushes her way onto the rink. And he's skating over to her and she throws her arms around his shoulders and kisses him deeply. He responds with such passion that he lifts her off the ground and spins her around, their kiss never breaking.

Finally they pull apart and she's breathless from the sprinting, and the coldness, and the kiss. Her cheeks burn red as he takes her hand and leads her off the ice. The second she steps out of the rink, she feels her phone start vibrating in her pocket.

"What in the world?" She pulls it out and sees that she's getting a call from her mom. "It's Mom." she yells over the noise of the crowd to Derek. "I wonder why she's calling." She shrugs and puts her arms around Derek's neck again. "Oh well, you're more important right now…" She leans in for another kiss but then feels her other pants pocket vibrate. She sighs, remembering that she was holding on to Derek's phone as he was playing.

She extracts his phone and hands it to him. "Here." He opens it and makes a befuddled look.

"It's from Sam." he says confusedly. "It says 'I knew it.' What does he know?" He looks at her and she raises her eyebrows.

"How should I know?" she says, and then feels her phone vibrate yet _again._

"It's Mom. What is so urgent?" And then, out of the corner of her eye, she sees it. A man rolling a giant camera away on wheels. Her stomach sinks. How could she have _not_ seen that before?

"Derek…" she starts slowly, trying to get rid of this huge lump in her throat. "Is this game… televised?"

"Shit."

* * *

**AN: Muahaha! ;) You know I love you guys, right?**

**Please review if you have the time!**


	10. Rents'

"They saw… they saw our kiss. Oh god… Oh god!" She starts hyperventilating beside him and he's internally freaking out, this huge knot forming in his stomach and his palms sweating. He thinks his heart might be beating even faster than it was when he was playing hockey out on the ice. This is so not… good.

"Should I answer?" she asks frantically, swinging her ever-ringing phone in front of his face and giving him this extremely panicked look. He doesn't think his voice is possible of functioning right now, so he merely shakes his head and grabs her hand forcefully, leading her to the door. He can't be here anymore. Not with all these people and the crowds and the yelling. They're freaking him out even more than he would normally react in this situation.

They step outside into the darkness and she's still taking these horribly short breaths of air. He is pretty sure he's spazzing just as much as her, yet he still feels the need to comfort her. He puts his arms around her back and holds her close to him. At first she is tense in his arms, but then she succumbs to the embrace, relaxing and placing her arms around him, finally breathing at a normal rate now.

"I… I don't want them to take you away from me…" she says into his chest, and he presses her closer to him.

"I'm not going to let that happen." he says fiercely, and the words surprise even him. There's a fire lit inside of him, and he's not going to give her up. No way. No way in _hell._ She's the best frigging thing that ever happened to him, and he's going to put up a hell of a fight if his dad and her mom try to tear them apart in any way. I mean, for Christ's sake, he _loves_ the girl… That has to count for something.

Suddenly he feels this dampness on his chest, and he realizes she's crying. And, _damn it,_ he really doesn't do tears, but he… well… frankly he feels like crying himself, as totally unmanly and wimpy as that sounds.

Because this is not the way he wanted his dad and Nora to find out. Not at all. And even though it was sort of this unspoken thing between them, he knows that he and Casey weren't planning on telling them until it was absolutely necessary… for obvious reasons. And he's scared that they _are_ going to try and break him and his girlfriend up. They _are_ paying for the apartment, after all… The apartment that he and Casey are sharing. And, _haha,_ they are _certainly_ not going to approve of them being in such close proximities. Ha, no, he will _not_ be telling them that he moved into Casey's room...

It's not like him and Casey have even _done_ anything yet. Sure, they make out and do a little… touching. And he normally ends up with his shirt off somehow… but it hasn't gone any further than that. He highly doubts that Nora let alone his dad will believe _that, _though.

Finally he pulls away from Casey, and she looks up at him, her eyes flooded with tears, that damn ringing cell phone still in her hand. He takes her free hand in his own.

"I'm not going to let them do anything, okay?" he tells her, and she nods, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. "If they try to take the apartment, I'll get a job and we can live somewhere else. I know it's not going to be good as our place right now, but we'll be together… And we're 18, so whatever they say… I mean we can try to respect it the best we can, but if they want to split us up then we have the law on our side, because we're adults, and we can do what we-"

He's cut off by her lips firmly pressed against his, and he calms a bit, his eyes closing as he tries to shut out the rest of the world and only focus on her. It seems to be working. Until she pulls away, that is.

"Whatever happens, I love you." she says slowly, looking at him with those piercing blue eyes of hers. "No matter what."

"Always." he says, and she kisses him one last time before taking her phone and flipping it open in her hand, pressing it impatiently to her ear.

"Hello?" she asks, as if they _don't_ know it's Nora and his dad on the other line. And then he watches as she holds the phone out far from her ear. And he can hear Nora _screaming_ through the receiver.

"Crap, crap, crap…" he mumbles to himself, and now Casey is crying even harder and he can't exactly understand what Nora is yelling about, but it _cannot_ be good. He's never heard the woman this angry in his entire four years of living in a chaotic household where she had the right to be angry…

He can hear something along the lines of 'ridiculous! idiotic! and irresponsible!' This goes on for about half an hour, and all the while his girlfriend is trying to get a word in, but every time she speaks, another deafening phrase expels from her phone.

It gets to the point where he can't take it anymore- the crying, the incessant screaming, and the infinite amount of insults being indirectly hurled at him… He grabs the phone from his girlfriend's hand and yells over his stepmom, "We'll call you back when you're ready to actually let Casey talk! Bye!"

He slams the phone shut and gives it back to Casey, breathing angrily through his nose.

"Thanks, Der…" Casey says after a while. She wraps her arms around him and his breathing slows. He hugs her back. "That needed to be done…"

He's almost calm again, but then he feels her phone vibrate against his back. "What now?" he asks, aggravated as she pulls away. "If it's your mom again, so help me god-"

"It's a text from Lizzie." She looks at him and her eyes are really freaking huge. She seems terrified. And this kind of terrifies him as to what she might say next.

"What does it say?" he asks, despite his fear.

She bites her bottom lip, and he sees she's crying again. And when she cries, her voice gets all high pitched, and it's nearly impossible to understand her. She realizes this too, and she holds up her cell phone in her trembling fingers, attempting to show him the message.

He takes her shaking hand in his own to steady it, and he reads the text.

_Just thought I should warn you – Mom and George are coming up to talk to you guys tomorrow._

_

* * *

_

They stay up practically all night, and despite the fact that they both insist that they're going to fight to stay together, they're both scared. Because, ultimately, it isn't up to them on whether they keep the apartment or not.

_He's_ especially terrified, because the only time he's ever seen her stand up to someone in her family is when she told off her Gran, and even then she wasn't standing up for just him. She was fighting for her mom and their 'family.'

If she really wants to be with him, she's going to have to fight _against_ her mom this time, and he hopes to god that she thinks he's worth it. It would be _easy_ to leave him. That would be the _easy_, safe decision. If she picks her mom's side, all she'll lose is him.

But if she picks him, she'll lose everything _besides _him.

He really doesn't think he's worth risking everything, even though she tells him he is.

He kid of wants to laugh at the fact that this guy who acts so cocky and egotistical has so many insecurities about a girl leaving him.

Only frankly he doesn't find it funny when the guy is him.

She finally falls asleep in his arms and he's left awake to let these thoughts circulate in his brain and consume him. That night he holds her closer to him than he's ever held her before. He's scared that this is the last night he'll ever get to hold her again.

* * *

He's still awake when their parents ring the doorbell at 8 AM the next morning.

She stirs awake and he finds it really hard to let go of her when she runs to answer the door.

She throws her hair up into a messy ponytail and kisses him on the lips before she exits their bedroom to 'greet' their parents. He notices her eyes are still red and puffy, and she has dark circles under them.

He probably looks ten times worst having stayed up all night. He groans and wipes his eyes as he hears her voice say as calmly as she can possibly muster, "George. Mom." Even from their bedroom he can hear the icy coldness in her voice.

"Where's your brother?" he hears his dad ask, and he cringes at the word.

"Derek, my _step_brother and boyfriend is still sleeping." He almost smiles at her reply. He's pleasantly surprised by how strong and calm her voice is, unwavering as she confronts his dad. "I can go get him if you'd like." she finishes, and he decides it's high time he gets out there and helps her. He knows all too well how scary his dad can be when he's not happy.

"No need, Case." he says loudly, walking into the living room towards her and grabbing her hand deliberately in his. He watches Nora's eyes go from spheres to slits as Casey leans into his touch and instantly relaxes as soon as he's by her side. He gulps and then turns to his dad. "Casey and I are willing to talk with you guys if you're willing to listen to _us._" he says firmly, and Casey squeezes his hand for reassurance.

"_Really_, son?" his dad says, but not in a cheerful tone of voice. He feels a bit of sarcasm coming his way. "Because we don't really think this decision is up to you two." And _there_ it is! "We think we're the ones who need to talk, and you're the ones who need to listen."

He opens his mouth to retaliate, but he feels Casey give a tug on his hand, and she motions towards the couch. They walk over to it and sit down, and she whispers to him, "maybe if we listen first, they'll give us a chance to talk."

He nods to her and now their parents are standing in front of them, looking down on them, and he feels weirdly inferior. He's gravely reminded of the time when their parents went away and he threw a party. The lecture was not fun then, and he has a feeling it's not going to be fun this time, either.

"First of all," his dad starts, "we feel that this is an extremely irrational and juvenile decision on both your parts."

He just now is reminded that his father is a lawyer. _"Damn it." _ he thinks to himself. "_We're never going to win…"_

His dad continues. "When Nora and I chose to leave you two alone in this apartment together, we expected you to set up certain boundaries for yourselves and exercise responsible, _adult_ morals… especially if either of you were to, say, bring someone home…" He crinkles his nose. He doesn't like where this conversation is going. "Never in our wildest dreams did we expect to have a problem with the both of you choosing _each other! _I mean, out of all the new girls and guys you had your pick of on this campus… and _this!"_ His dad points between the two of them to illustrate his point, because apparently saying they're in a relationship is impossible for him. "We expected you guys to be fighting or at the very least ignoring each other. And then we turn on our TV, hoping to have a nice family bonding time while watching Derek play hockey, and _low and behold,_ you two are making out for this entire province to see! I mean, when did you plan on telling us?"

"Never, because we knew _this_ would happen." he mumbles under his breath, trying hard not to roll his eyes.

"What, son?" his dad looks fiercely at him, and he shakes his head.

"Nothing." It's only one word, but his voice cracks. He feels his hand getting sweaty in Casey's, but he's _not_ going to let go.

"So one day, I suppose Derek was careless and left the bathroom door unlocked, and Casey happened to stumble in on him… and your hormones got the better of you, and-"

"Dad!" he interjects, his face glowing a bright red.

"Woah, woah, wait!" Casey yells at the same time as him, her eyebrows furrowed. "You think _that's_ why Derek and I got together?"

"I see no other explanation." his dad replies, and he's now blazing with anger, his teeth clenched. His dad is being such an-

"No other explanation?" Casey asks incredulously. "What about-"

"Casey, listen to me." _Annnnnd _once again they're interrupted. This time by her mom, who hasn't spoken since they've arrived, but is suddenly livid. "I thought I could trust _you_ of all people to make a responsible decision. I was so proud of you when you finally broke it off with Truman and started focusing on your studies and passions, but now you've gone right back to the same type, and this time it's worse, because you've _known_ Derek for four years, and known what a terrible influence he can be."

His heart sinks to his stomach, and he feels incredibly sick. She just compared him to – no – said he was _worse_ than the biggest douchebag he has ever known. His own stepmother thinks that badly of him?

"Mom, how can you even say that?" And now Casey is crying again, and knows it was inevitable, but it still makes him upset that she's shedding tears… over him. "Derek is nothing like-"

"You've seen the way he's treated other girls. Kendra? Your best friend, Emily…" She's talking about him like he's not even there.

"Hey, that was-" He tries to make a point, but Nora keeps going.

"He's negligent, immature, arrogant, and apathetic." Ouch. This hurts. This hurts so much. And his dad isn't even defending him. His own dad. _In fact…_

"Not to mention lazy." his dad adds, unhelpfully.

"We thought you had better judgment than this, but I guess we were wrong." Her mom finishes, and he thinks he's seriously going to be sick.

He looks to his right and Casey's cheeks are crimson.

"_This is it." _ he thinks. "_She's going to be done with me. This is the end."_

Casey opens her mouth, and he's about to run to the bathroom so he doesn't hear what she says next. But then…

"How _dare _you?" He almost jumps out of his skin as Casey grips his hand even harder and starts to yell… at her mom… _Not at him_! "How dare you say those things about Derek, especially when he's sitting right here?" He squeezes her hand back. He shouldn't be happy that she's yelling right now, but_ holy mother of god_, she chose _him._ "Despite the fact that Derek hasn't been a complete gentleman with his girlfriends in the past, I _trust _him, and you should too! I know he isn't going to break my heart, and I am definitely not going to break his just because _you_ want me to end it with him!"

Then she rounds on his dad. He can hardly believe this is happening. "George, he is your _son_. I don't understand how you could possibly say such horrible things about the son that, against all odds, pulled his grades up last year and earned a hockey scholarship to an extremely prestigious university!"

Their parents are speechless as she addresses the both of them. "Derek and I have liked each other for a very long time… But neither of us was willing to admit our feelings because, first of all, we're stepsiblings, and second of all, we knew you two wouldn't like this… We dated other people to try and distract ourselves, but our minds were still on each other. And I _know_ Derek was sort of a ladies-man before he met me, but he cares about me! It's different with us."

She finishes, and he sort of wants to kiss the daylights out of her, but he knows it wouldn't be appropriate right now. He assumes their parents are going to back down, but then-

"How is it different, Casey?" her mom asks, harshly. "How can you be sure that Derek isn't going to throw you away for some blonde bimbo he meets at a party? How you can you be sure that _you_ aren't going to find anyone better for-"

"Because, Mom, _I LOVE HIM!"_

Well damn. He really wasn't expecting _that._

_

* * *

_

**AN: I am **_**so **_**sorry it took me so long to write this! I hope the length of the chapter makes up for my long period of not updating! This was really difficult to write, but I tried to make it as realistic as possible. Also, I'm sorry for the cliff-hanger too. Hehe. ;) Please let me know what you think! I promise to get back to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and also those who reviewed my one-shots! Thank you! I love you guys! :)**


	11. Lectures

Okay, so Derek and her have told each other they loved each other multiple times, but she didn't exactly expect to blurt her passionate feelings out to her mom and stepfather. Her face immediately turns an even darker shade of red, and she kind of wants to die. This is… wow. Even someone with a brain that works like a thesaurus cannot come up with a word to fit these circumstances.

Her mom stares at her, one eyebrow raised, and she suddenly knows where she gets that character trait from. George's jaw is practically on the ground, and Derek is squeezing her hand so hard that it's going numb and she's afraid it might fall off.

"You… _what_?" George says finally, his mouth still agape and his head shaking in disbelief.

She opens her mouth to repeat her previous phrase, but she's cut off.

"I love her, too." Derek says, and even though it's addressed to their parents, it feels like he's telling it to her. She feels like crying more now, but not sad tears. She's pleasantly surprised by his proclamation, and the corners of her mouth turn up in a smile, despite the dismal situation that they're in right now.

And now their parents are really speechless, and even her mom's mouth is ajar. Does this mean… Does this mean they have the floor to talk?

But then George speaks. "Son, are you…" And her mom grabs his upper arm and silences him.

"George and I are going to go discuss this in privacy. Do you have a room we can use?" her mom says, and her heart is nearly pounding out of her chest. What are they going to _discuss_?

Derek nearly jumps off of the couch, springing into action and finally releasing her hand. "Yeah, you can use my room." he says, and he leads their parents to 'his' room that he no longer occupies. She hopes they won't notice that there's nothing on his dresser or on the floor… but she realizes it would be worse if they went into her room and found his stuff _everywhere._

He comes back with a relieved look on his face and plops down on the couch beside her, holding his arms out. She crawls into them and he rocks her gently back and forth in his lap. She burrows her face into his chest and tries not to cry. It doesn't work very well…

"Thank you." She hears after a while, and she looks up at him. "Thanks for standing up for me, Case."

She sort of laughs through her tears and places her hand on his cheek. "Of course. I told you I wasn't going to let you go that easily…"

He leans in and kisses her, and any doubt either of them had about staying together vanishes. It takes all of her willpower to pull back, but she does so eventually, smiling up at her boyfriend.

"What do you think they're talking about?" she asks, and she strains her ears to hear what their parents are discussing, but all she can hear is their mumbling voices.

"I don't know, but at least we managed to shut them up." he says, pulling her even closer to him.

"True." she laughs and pulls him down into a kiss again, distracting herself from the imminent news their parents are going to give them. No matter what they say, though, she knows she's going to have him, and that's the best feeling in the world.

This would have been one of those moments that turns into a steamy make out session between the two of them, but they stop anything too risqué from happening because of their parents being right next door. Sure enough, their parents emerge from 'Derek's' bedroom fifteen minutes later and they shift into an appropriate position on the couch, their hands still intertwined.

They sit there in anticipation, waiting for some sort of response from either her mom or George.

"We… we're going to give this a try." her mom says, and she can hardly believe her own ears. A huge grin breaks out on her face. She can't help it. This is the best thing she's heard all day… besides Derek's 'I love her too.' In her peripheral vision she sees Derek grinning just as widely.

"You two are adults now, so even though we don't completely agree with this relationship, we realize we don't have any real control over you anymore." her mom continues. Her mind is so dizzy that she can barely concentrate on what she's saying.

"But that _doesn't_ mean we don't want you to respect our wishes and rules." George interjects. "We still expect you to make responsible decisions, and whe… if you do break up, not to place the burden on the family. We have enough drama in our lives already." He mumbles that last sentiment to himself, and even though she can hear the forced-calmness in both of their voices, she is just grateful that they're actually giving her and Derek a chance.

"Thank you." she says, and she realizes her voice is over-brimming with happiness. She doesn't even care. They should _know_ how happy this makes her.

"Now, Casey, I'd like you to come with me for a moment…" her mom says, and George chimes in, "same to you, Derek."

And suddenly she's worried, and a little sick to her stomach. Her boyfriend shoots her a horrified look as her mom pulls her away to her bedroom and his dad pulls him away to his. Oh god. This can only mean one thing…

* * *

"Casey, we know you two are having sex."

Her face grows extremely hot and she has a feeling that it's redder than a tomato right now as she listens to _the_ most awkward lecture from her mom.

"Mom, we-"

"Don't argue, Casey… You're blushing, and it's pretty obvious." Her mom doesn't even give her a chance to speak. "Two hormonal college students living an apartment together…"

She opens her mouth to argue, but her mom holds up a hand to silence her.

"It's okay, Casey. I mean, it's not okay, because I obviously expected you to save your first time for someone else… like your husband, but George and I get it. This generation is different, and I guess I'm just grateful you waited until you were out of my household."

_Oh. My. God._ This is humiliating, and she and Derek haven't even…

_And it keeps going! _"Just… please, whatever you do, use protection. Because I cannot deal with you and Derek being in a relationship, let _alone _you getting pregnant… And you are just not at a good time in your life to have a child, especially with _Derek_ of all people."

She puts her head in her hands and tries to drain out her mother's incredibly disturbing speech, but she can't block out what she's already heard. She can't even fathom the fact that her mom thinks she's… doing _that_, and she's just openly talking to her about it like it's the most palpable thing in the world.

It doesn't help that one of Derek's shirts is lying on her bed… which they are sitting on. No, that does _not_ help her argument at all. Not to mention his leather jacket hanging from a hook on her door… and pictures of them in multiple frames on her dresser. Oh my god. She doesn't think she's ever been this uncomfortable in her entire life.

Finally it's over. At this point she has given up on trying to convince her mom she has the wrong idea. As they walk out into the living room, she can see that her boyfriend had a very similar speech given to him, the color completely drained from his face.

"I think that's all we have to say." George says promptly, and there are so many awkward emotions in the room that she is relieved when they decide to leave straight away. She gives her mom an unpleasant hug goodbye, and Derek is still just sitting there on the couch, staring directly at the wall ahead of him.

"Well, bye then, son." George waves to Derek, and he waves from his seat, still distressed.

And finally their parents are gone. It feels surreal and strange as she takes a seat beside him, placing her hand on his arm.

"You okay, sweetie?" she asks him, and he turns to look at her slowly, grabbing her hand in his.

"I _hate_ it when my dad talks to me about that stuff." he says, his voice an octave higher than normal. He clears his throat, and she almost wants to laugh…

"I can't believe they thought…" her sentence trails off and a giggle escapes from her throat.

Some of the color comes back in his face and he smiles at her. "That was so humiliating." he says. "I actually yelled 'I'm still a virgin!' at my dad because he wouldn't leave the issue alone."

She leans her head on his shoulder, finally letting loose and laughing. "They are so ridiculous." She pulls back to look at him. "And I thought _we_ were overly dramatic!"

"Yeah, me too." He finally looks okay, and she gives him a chaste kiss on the lips. "You know, since they were wrong about us doing the nasty…" He smirks at her and wiggles his eyebrows. "Why don't we prove them right?"

"Der-ek!" she squeals, and he bites down on her neck.

It doesn't take long before that shirt of his is off again.

* * *

**AN: I had to add some humor in there since the last chapter was so heavy with emotion! I hope you guys liked this. Please review if you have the time! I love you guys so much, and your feedback always makes me so happy! I promise next chapter will be longer. ;)**


	12. Phone Calls

After they tell their parents, it's like the floodgates open. Everyone knows now, knows that the stepsiblings that used to bicker and fight all the time are now totally and completely in love with each other.

He supposes his younger brother, Edwin, probably told everyone and anyone in his grade and then the rumor spread to the whole school, and then to older siblings, and from there it was like wildfire. He doesn't really mind when Ralph calls, or Sally (who is conveniently back together with Patrick), or even Kendra, who snarkily greets him on the phone with "I knew there was something more going on between you two."

But the one call he does not look forward to or expect is from his most recent ex (excluding Roxy, because they never really 'went out').

Emily Davis calls him the Saturday after their parents visit, and as soon as he saw the caller ID, he should have hung up. But it's too late now.

"You and Casey are _together!"_ she yells at him through the receiver, and he holds the phone away from his ear, wincing. "When were you going to tell me this, Derek_?_ Guess who I had to find it out from!"

He waits a few seconds, thinking it's a rhetorical question, but then she shrieks 'GUESS!'

"I don't know!" he says, grateful that Casey is in the shower and not here to witness this conversation, especially when his voice cracks. "Um… Sam?"

"No, _Derek."_ God, the way she says his name is worse than when Casey says it. "I was home for the weekend and your parents asked me to babysit for them today, so I went over…"

Uh oh. He sees right where this story is headed. "And all Marti talked about the entire time was how 'Smerek and Casey' are going to get married and how they 'made love' after the hockey game!"

He slaps himself on the forehead. He loves his little sister, but she never could quite get her terminology straight. "What?" he manages to choke out.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. At first!" Emily continues, still as loud as ever. "But then she turned on the TV where your family had apparently TiVo'd your big hockey game, fast forwarded to the end, and, _hello_, you and your _stepsister_ are sucking face on national television!"

"Okay, well-"

"So I had to find out from your _little sister_ that you broke up with me for Casey!" She doesn't even let him explain the kiss. Or the fact that it was definitely not _national_…

"Um, Emily, you broke up with _me_ long before Casey I even started going out." He tries to be calm and rational, but she's making it difficult.

"I didn't break up with you! We were just on break!"

He sighs very audibly into the phone. "Yeah, because you wanted to have a summer fling with Sheldon without having to give up me. Then as soon as he was to go back to Newfoundland you wanted us to get back together. And I wasn't okay with that so-"

"Because you were busy having a fling with Casey!" she interrupts, and he rolls his eyes. This is just ridiculous.

"Der, who are you talking to?" And then Casey comes out of the bathroom wearing only her towel and giving him a questioning look. _Oh, damn it._

"Is that my so-called best friend?" Emily asks. "Put her on the phone!"

He mimes shooting himself in the head and dying, and Casey laughs at his antics.

"Mom and George again?" she asks softly, because, _oh yeah_, those two have been calling every day as well. To 'check up on them' or, in other words, see if they're still together.

"No, it's Emily!" he holds the phone to his chest as he tells her, and her face pales and goes instantly serious. "And she wants to talk to you." He can't help but smirk as he holds the phone out to his girlfriend; she looks hilariously terrified. And Emily is somehow _still _screaming on the phone. To no one.

Casey shakes her head and backs away, but he's too quick for her. He leaps over the couch and blocks the hallway to their bathroom and bedroom.

"Oh, Derek, come on!" She's clutching to her towel with one hand and trying to push him out of the way with the other. "No fair! At least let me put some clothes on!"

"WHAT?" They hear Emily shriek from his phone.

He's practically crying from laughter at this point, and she's trying not to crack up. She goes to hit him with her free hand, and he quickly places the phone in it, running away from her as fast as he can.

"Really not funny, Der!" she yells, but he's already retreating to 'his' bedroom. "No more kisses for you for the rest of the night!" He hears before shutting his door.

* * *

An hour and six games of tetris on his phone later, and he decides it's time to check up on Casey. He sees her sitting on the couch in sweats and a tank, still looking just as beautiful as ever.

But then he comes closer and sees she's been crying, and as soon as she sees him, Niagara Falls starts flowing again. His stomach suddenly sinks. This is _his _fault… He left her to deal with Emily on her own and…

"Case, what the hell did she say to you?" He quickly makes his way over to her and she instantly collapses in his arms, holding him tightly to her.

"Well, she's the first to call us out on the whole 'incest' thing." Casey starts, trying to control her breathing.

He kisses her forehead. "It's okay, take your time." he says quietly, and she starts to calm down a little bit.

"And she called me a horrible friend, and accused me of being a home-wrecker and stealing you away and all of this other stuff that is just complete and utter…"

"BS?" he suggests, and to his relief, she gives a blubbery giggle against his chest.

"Yes." she says simply, and he pulls back to look at her tear-stricken face. He really, really _hates_ seeing her sad, even worse crying because of something that he could have prevented.

"S-sorry… I… I shouldn't have given you the phone when she was acting crazy like that." he says slowly. "She's just angry right now, Case, and she's taking her anger out on you because it's the easy thing to do. She'll get over it… eventually."

"And what if she doesn't?" she asks him, staring at him with glassy eyes.

"Then she's… not worth it."

A few more tears slip down Casey's cheeks, and he wishes he could do something more useful than just sitting here and watching her cry.

"I know you said no more kissing for the rest of the night, but…" he starts before she leans up and presses her lips to his gently.

He takes her face in his hands and kisses her cheek, tasting her salty tears on his lips.

He doesn't stop until he's kissed every last tear away.

* * *

A few days after the Emily-incident, she runs up to him when he gets home from classes and basically attacks him with kisses.

"What was that for?" he says, smirking, when they finally break apart. Then he notices a letter in her hand for the first time. "Who's that from?"

"It's a letter from Jesse!" she says enthusiastically, and it kind of feels like someone just punched him in the stomach.

His first thought is _"what the hell?" _and his second is "_she's still talking to Twinkletoes?"_

"What the heck? You're still talking to Flutterfeet?" he asks, looking at her confusedly. Because a letter from Jesse is a good reason to kiss him…

"Well, no. I haven't talked to him since… well, since that day we came back from vacation." she says, and he almost laughs recalling that day. "But he wrote me this letter," she brandishes the paper, "to thank me for helping him get noticed, _and-" _She's practically breathless at this point, and he can't help but notice how adorable she is with her cheeks glowing red in the cold and this giant smile on her face…

"He gave me two tickets to see his show!" she finishes, and he realizes he's been zoning out.

"Huh?" he asks, not quite registering what she just said.

"Derek - you and me - we're going to New York!"

* * *

One fourth of the car ride to NYC and she makes him pull over because he has been eating a chocolate bar, and apparently it's getting all over his face. And she has to fix this.

Which means they end up an hour behind schedule, due to the fact that her one kiss to get the chocolate remnants off turns into something much more.

They hold hands the entire rest of the trip, and he is pleasantly reminded of their long escapades during the summer. He can hardly believe he's going to New York City for the first time with his girlfriend. He can also hardly believe that she decided not to tell their parents about this, which he thinks is a good decision, of course, but it's very unlike her to keep secrets from her mom. And this is the second time she's had to do that, the first time being with their relationship.

He can't help but feel like he's a negative influence on her, and it scares him a bit, knowing that some of what his dad said about him being irresponsible is true. He doesn't want to change her for the worse, but he doesn't know what to do. She's the best thing that's ever happened to him, and he's certainly not going to let her go. Because he knows that would hurt her far more than any stupid mistake he might make…

But it's not like they can tell their parents that they're going to New York together. Ha_,_ their reactions would be _priceless_ if they ever found out! And he would probably be grounded until the end of his life. Or the end of the world. Whichever comes first.

So he chooses not to think about how they're keeping everything from their parents, and instead focuses on the weekend ahead of them.

Casey squeezes his hand as she sees the city in the distance, and after their eight hour car ride he's relieved and excited to finally stretch his legs and spend the rest of the day exploring NYC with her.

When they finally find a parking spot and they get out of the car and she's kissing him full on the lips, he has a feeling this is going to be the best vacation ever.

* * *

**AN: I am so, so sorry it took me this long to update! I had to rewrite this chapter like 3 times because I hated everything, and I wasn't inspired. Thank goodness for The Daseys to get my muse working again. I hope you guys enjoy this, and I'm sorry I'm behind in getting back to you on reviews. I promise to catch up. Please review this chapter if you have the time! :) Love you guys!**


	13. Storks

Her father used to take her to New York a lot when she was younger, so she knows her way around the city fairly well. They drop their stuff off at their hotel, and they have almost the whole day ahead of them to do whatever they want before Jesse's play starts.

Derek has never been to the city before, so she finds humor in his antics, especially when she decides to take him to M&M World and he spazzes like a little kid over the wall-high tubes filled with every color M&M imaginable. She practically has to drag him out of the store, especially when he almost runs over a little boy to get to the giant Hershey bars. She apologizes hastily to the boy's mom, trying not to laugh, but at the same time feeling sorry for the boy. At this point, she doesn't think she'll ever get Derek out of there… until she mentions the biggest Toys R' Us in the world, that is.

They're the only adults without children in the line to get on the giant Ferris Wheel. It's probably the least romantic setting in the world, with all the little kids screaming and running around them, but she holds his hand as they go up in their car, and she's never been happier.

They spend the rest of the day walking around the city, looking at the sights and just talking and holding hands. She remembers being a little girl and seeing the couples holding hands in the city. She always wished to be one of them, and she smiles when Derek laces his fingers with hers.

They go to Little Italy for a romantic dinner, and Derek swears that he's never tasted food so good. (Except hers, of course.) They playfully take the same spaghetti noodle in their mouths and laugh when they ungracefully meet in the middle, accidentally smothering sauce on both of their faces.

Jesse's show ends up being wonderful, and when they visit him backstage afterwards, he says he isn't surprised that they're together. He figured them out when Derek pulled her away from him while they were kissing on vacation… and Casey never came back to dance with him. She blushes, trying to apologize, but Jesse just shakes it off as nothing, smiling as the couple leaves, both with mortified looks on their faces.

It feels surreal that they have to leave for Queen's the next morning as they cuddle in their hotel bed that night. She feels closer to him than ever before, however, and she knows that going back to reality won't be a letdown because he's there.

* * *

It's a lazy Sunday evening. They're back in their apartment canoodling on the couch when the phone rings. Derek breaks from her reluctantly and picks up the phone. She purses her lips, annoyed by the interruption.

"Who is it?" Derek asks. There's some muffled talking on the other line and then-

"Marti, hey! Why are you calling?"

She looks round at him, surprised. "Marti?" she mouths, and he nods. "Put it on speaker." she says softly, and obliges.

"Nora and Dad told me about you guys." She hears Marti's voice on the other line.

"What?" Derek says, furrowing his eyebrows. "Did Edwin and Lizzie put you up to calling us?"

"When are you going to get married? Can I be the flower girl? Is there going to be a purple cake?" Marti continues to ask questions and Derek's question is completely ignored. "When's the stork coming?" Derek looks at her, a terrified look on his face, and she isn't sure whether to laugh or mirror his expression.

"Are you and Casey going to have a girl or a boy. I want a girl, because then I can play with her. Plus, we already have Simon, so we need another girl now."

"Whoa, whoa, Marti! Slow down!" Derek holds the phone away from his ear as Marti demands to know what is going to happen if they have a baby boy first. "Casey and I have only been girlfriend and boyfriend for a few months." he tries to explain to her, but she only continues to protest.

"Nora and Dad were only together for a little while before they got married!"

"Yes, but-"

"And you and Casey have liked each other for more than a few months! I know. I could tell."

He can't seem to come up with an argument for this, seeing as it's the truth. Their relationship feels like it's been going on for so much longer than three short months.

"I've gotta go, Marti." he lies, trying to get off the line in any way possible. "Casey and I have some schoolwork today."

"Okay, well Dad wants you to call him later. I love you, Smerek. Bye!" she hears Marti say on the other line.

"Bye, Smarti. Love you too." Derek hangs up the phone and stares at her in shock. "What in God's name was _that_ about? Didn't someone teach that girl about the birds and bees yet? I don't understand where she gets these ideas from!"

"You don't think… Mom and George put her up to that?" she asks, and Derek gives her a befuddled look.

"Why would they do that?"

"To try and scare us out of this relationship." It's more of a question than a statement, but she can't help but think that this is the only reason Marti would call them and fire off random questions about weddings and storks and children. "They're still not happy about us, you know. Every day Mom calls and asks me if I'm still with you. They don't want us to be together."

"You think… they used Marti to try and break us up?" He asks, but he doesn't even give her a chance to defend her theory. "Those jerks, using a little girl to try and manipulate us! Oh, just wait until I talk to Dad! He is going to hear it!" He grabs the phone from the coffee table and starts pounding on the buttons violently.

"No, no! Der!" She gently takes the phone away from him and sets it behind her. "We don't even know if that's true, first of all. And second of all, this doesn't change anything." His breathing slows and he looks at her, calm. "The thought of 'the stork coming' or whatever doesn't scare me away. I know that's the future I want with you, and our parents are just being naive to think that we aren't going to stick it out together."

"Yeah, you're right." he says, sighing and itching at his wrist lazily. "I can't believe they would ever think that something like _that_ could make us not want to be together."

"I know. I wish they were more supportive." She bites her lip, realizing that they both inadvertently admitted to wanting to have children together.

"Maybe we should just run away, get married in Vegas, pull a Romeo and Juliet sort of deal. That'll show them." She doesn't know if he's serious or joking, her heart pounding in her chest as he grabs her hands.

"Romeo and Juliet ended up dead." she reminds him, laughing, trying to say something that will neither insult him nor egg him on.

"Yes, but we're not dumb like them." He winks at her, absentmindedly stroking his thumb along the back of her hand.

"I'd… I'd kind of like a normal wedding, Der. Not a rushed ceremony in a chapel in Vegas." She still doesn't know if he's just teasing her, his actions not matching his facial expression. She doesn't look him in the eye, her stomach twisting in knots.

He doesn't say anything right away, and she's afraid she said the wrong thing. She goes to explain herself, and then-

"Would you marry me, Case? I mean… would you ever want to?"

Her breath stops short at his question, but she doesn't even have to think of what her answer is. "In a heartbeat." she whispers, gripping his hands.

"Ha, we have the most backwards relationship ever." He smirks, and just like that, their intimate moment is broken. She blinks, sighing as he stands up and walks to the fridge. "I mean, we lived together for four years before becoming boyfriend and girlfriend." He grabs the gallon of milk and begins to pour himself a glass. "And now-"

"And now what, Der?" she asks as he grabs his glass and makes his way back over to her. "We're… we're going to get married? Because if you're serious about this, then so am I." She says all of this quickly, watching him take a large sip of milk and gulp at her question. He stares at her.

"Case, what're you-"

"Never mind." she cuts him off, her face burning bright red. She just _had_ to open her big mouth.

"No, Case… You have to know… I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. I…" His sentence trails off, and his eyes grow wide. She would laugh if she wasn't so embarrassed. "Oh my god." She sees some sort of realization dawn on his face. "I'm serious." he says, and her heart starts racing again. "I love you." He smiles, wider than she's ever seen him smile. It's infectious, and a smile spreads on her face as well.

"I love you too." she says, and Derek put his glass on the coffee table, grabbing her hands again.

"Then… I… I don't have a ring or anything yet, but…" Derek starts, and her breath hitches in her throat when he gets down on one knee. "I can't imagine the rest of my life without you. You're beautiful and brilliant and talented, and I don't know what I did to deserve someone as amazing you, but I promise to take care of you forever if you'll have me."

The words seem to come to him easily, his voice unwavering, but she feels his hands trembling wildly in her own, which makes her hold on even tighter. His smile is genuine, his eyes gleaming… And she thinks she sees tears forming in them as tears form in her own, but she can't be sure because it _is _Derek, after all.

Her lip quivers as he asks her the question she's been anticipating. "So, Casey McDonald, will… will you marry me?" His voice cracks on the last word, and a tear spills out of his eye. She reaches up to wipe it away, tenderly.

"Yes, yes. A million times yes!" she practically shouts, and he stands up, taking her in his arms. She wraps her arms around his neck as he spins her around, and then they're kissing. She feels her strength faltering, joyous tears flowing freely down her face. He sits back down on the couch with her in his lap, and she laughs as he kisses the tears away.

"I love you so much." she says feebly, shaking with happiness and excitement.

"I do too." He presses his forehead to hers and takes her face in his hands. "I promise to get you a ring… I just… didn't expect to do this today."

"It's okay." she says, really not concerned about a ring at all. All she cares about is him at the moment.

"But, you know… we have one more problem." He looks at her, concern written on his face.

"What's that?" She doesn't think anything can break her good mood right now, no matter what the problem is.

He crinkles his nose and stares her in the eyes.

"Now we have to tell the 'rents."

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**AN: I am incredibly sorry for taking so long on this chapter. This last month has been crazy busy, and I am terrible at writing couples when they're together, so this was difficult for me to get out on paper. Luckily, The Daseys inspired me once again, and **_**then**_** I couldn't stop writing! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I love each and every one of you! Thanks for all the reviews, and please tell me what you think about this chapter too! **


	14. Proposals

**AN: I wanted to put this at the beginning because I have really important and exciting news! My really good friend, JesterDala (you probably all know her from youtube) and I are trying to work on a sort of virtual season 5 of Life with Derek. We have all the episode summaries, but we're in desperate need of writers to, well… write the episodes! If you are interested, PLEASE message me. We would love your help! For more information go to (only replace the dots and slashes with the actual things.) Thanks you guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review if you can! I love you all!**

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He reaches for the phone, his hands trembling in anticipation. Casey and he agreed to tell their parents about their engagement straight away, considering George was expecting a phone call from him later, anyway. If they _did_ put Marti up to calling and trying to scare them out of a relationship, they are in for one big surprise.

"It'll be okay." Casey says, gently touching the side of his face. He leans into her touch, finding comfort in her presence, and he dials his old home number, still not pressing 'send.'

"They can't say anything that's going to make me change my mind, and if we have to, we'll do this whole wedding on our own." she says softly, trying to reassure him. "I'm right here."

She leans over and kisses him on the lips, and he has to force himself to pull back after a while. They always get carried away after too much kissing, and if he does call his dad _now_, he never will.

"Alright. Here it goes." he says, and she grasps his hand in her own. He presses the send button, puts it on speaker phone, and sets the phone down on the table, looking at it as if it were an atomic bomb.

"Derek, hey, you finally called." George's voice speaks from the other end.

"Yep." he replies, his voice cracking in the process. "What's up, Dad?"

"Just checking to see if you and Casey are still together."

He rolls his eyes and she sighs, placing her head on his shoulder. "Yes, Dad, we are." he replies. "And we've got some, uh… big news to tell you, so I was wondering if you could get Nora?"

"Jesus, Derek, please don't tell me you got her preg-"

"No, Dad! _No._" he says quickly, and Casey snorts back a laugh beside him, her face turning bright red. "Just… get Nora. Please."

"Fine. I'll be right back." He hears his dad's footsteps and he looks at his fiancée with wide eyes.

"They never give us a break, do they?" he asks, and she giggles.

"Nah, what would be the fun in that?" she nudges him, and he can't help but kiss her again. If he thought the touching was bad _before_ they got together, he can only imagine what his past-self would think now.

They're still locked in an embrace when they hear his dad speak. "Okay, I'm back with Nora. Let's hear this 'big news.'"

They break apart reluctantly and he's nervous again, his hands shaking. "Well, Dad, Nora…" His voice falters a bit and she notices, taking over for him.

"We… we wanted to tell you-"

"Oh, Casey? You're here as well?" Nora asks, and he groans. He just wants to get this over with. It's a painful process, and he wants to rip off the bandaid quickly, not slowly.

"Yes, Mom, I'm here."

"This must be some news." his dad says without any emotion.

"Yes, well-" Casey starts.

"We're engaged!" he yells, cutting everyone off.

Casey stares at him in awe. He thinks he's had too many outbursts to last a lifetime. "'I love you,' 'I'm a virgin,' and 'we're engaged' being only a few. Not that they were all bad outbursts. He just would like to not be so forward sometimes and keep his cool, but that doesn't seem to happen very often when he's around Casey.

There is a long period of silence and then he hears "what?" on the other end.

"We're engaged." Casey speaks this time, and he's grateful, knowing that he probably won't be able to say anything rational at this point in time. "Derek proposed to me earlier today and…" She trails off a bit and looks at him, biting back a smile and absolutely gleaming with happiness. He smiles at her and wraps an arm around her shoulders, drawing her close to him. "And I said yes." she continues, placing a hand on his leg, tears welling up in her eyes at the not-so-distant memory. "And we're both really happy… And it would be great if you could be happy for us too." she finishes, and he can trace a bit of anxiety in her voice, even though she still looks joyful.

There is another lapse of silence and then – "I don't know what to say." It's his dad this time.

"We know we're young, and we haven't been going out for that long, but… I'm not one to make irrational decisions. You know that." Casey reasons with them. "I love Derek." she says softly. "I know this is going to work. I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't believe that I want to spend the rest of my life with him." She's full-fledged crying now, and he doesn't even know if the 'rents can understand her, so he decides it's his turn to speak.

"And do you really think I would propose if I didn't mean it?" he adds. "This decision means I'm tied to Casey forever. No other girls, no flirting, no nothing. Would I really joke around about that?" Casey lets out a watery giggle. Hey, it was the best argument he could come up with.

"I guess… we know you're serious. It was never really a question of seriousness, but…" Nora starts.

"But _what_?" he asks, a little too harshly. Casey squeezes his leg.

"This is a lot to take in." she says simply, and George continues for her.

"Do you two realize how this is going to affect the rest of the family?" he asks. "I think that Marti, Edwin, and Lizzie could be seriously confused! Not to mention the fact that we are going to have to explain to everyone how our _stepchildren_ are getting married! I just feel that you are being very selfish."

"What?" he practically yells, his jaw dropping in shock.

"Derek, it's okay, just-" Casey tries to calm him down, but this is just ridiculous.

"Are you kidding me? _We're _being selfish?" he asks incredulously. "We love each other, and we're just asking you to be happy for us, _for once,_ instead of acting ashamed or... or acting like us being stepsiblings is the worst thing in the world!"

"Son-" George tries to interject.

"Don't _son _me! I'm tired of this!" he continues, and this time Casey doesn't even try to stop him. "What do you want me to do? Break up with Casey because our parents happen to be married? I never asked for this. I never asked to be Casey's stepbrother! And it's really unfair of you to think that we would sacrifice something amazing for your pride! You shouldn't be embarrassed of Casey and me dating. We're not related by blood. It's not like this is incest!" He breathes in and out a few times and relaxes a bit, lowering his voice. "Dad, don't you remember the feeling of asking Nora to marry you, of knowing that you love her and always want to be with her? I _have_ that. Why would you want to take that away from me?"

There's complete and utter silence on the other end, and he thinks he's done it. He finally manages to make a point (or two) to their stubborn parents. Casey rests her head on his shoulder again and whispers in his ear, "I love you."

"I love you too." he whispers back, just loud enough for their parents to hear.

Finally there is a response from his dad. "Okay."

His heart leaps in his chest, but he's still apprehensive. "Okay… what?"

"Okay. If you two are getting married, so be it. I guess we should know by now that we aren't going to change your minds."

"You know… we _do_ love you two. Very much." Nora chimes in, trying to lighten the conversation.

"We know, Mom." Casey says, as he opens his mouth to retort. She gives him a look that clearly reads 'just drop the issue.'

"I just have one question." It's his dad again. "Did Marti call you earlier?"

A smile breaks out on his face. So they _did _put Marti up to it, and they _did_ want her to scare them out of a relationship. Ha! That didn't work out how they planned at all. "Yes, she did. And remind me to thank her later. She was the one who gave me the idea to propose!" he says with a smirk, and then hangs up the phone.

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That night he can't sleep. He needs to buy her ring to make it official. He needs to make a traditional, formal proposal because he can't help but think she deserves better, that his proposal was possibly the crappiest ever made. The next day she kisses him goodbye (even more enthusiastically than normal), and as soon as she's out the door, he's getting ready and leaving as well - though not to class. He has to find her the perfect ring. He doesn't care if he has to spend all of his savings on her. She has to know that he's serious.

He surprises her by showing up after her class and taking her to the park. He packed a picnic lunch, and although the lettuce on their sandwiches is browning a little, and he's thoroughly embarrassed by the state of his frozen pie (that somehow ended up burnt on the edges), she eats everything anyway, telling him his macaroni salad is to die for.

"You've become better at lying." he tells her, and she smashes some of the pie in his face, just to spite him.

"Oh, now you're in for it!" They chase each other around the park and when she thinks she's safe after ducking behind a tree, he leaps at her and tackles her to the ground. They're both laughing, as he rolls off of her and lies beside her in the grass.

"That really hurt, you know that?" she giggles, and he reaches out and brushes her hair out of her face.

"Man up, McDonald. Marriage is no picnic. I'm just training you for the long years ahead of us." he winks at her and then reaches into his sweatshirt pocket when she rolls her eyes, a smile on her face.

"I have something for you." he says quietly, grasping the velvety box in his pocket. He pulls it out and her eyebrows shoot up.

"Der…"

"My proposal was really awful, so I thought I'd give this another try." He sits up and helps her up as well, so that they're at eye level. He's shaking even more than last time, those damn tears threatening to spill from his eyes. (AH, since when did he become such a sap!) "I'll ask you a second time – will you marry me, Case?"

He opens the box and she gasps. It's not the biggest, most expensive gem in the world. Just a diamond, with two round turquoise gems on each side. He thought of her eyes when he saw them.

"Of course." Casey says, and he smiles, taking the ring from its place and slipping it on her finger.

"Looky, there, we're all official now." he jokes, and she examines it for a moment before tackling him to the ground one more time, this time with her lips.

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**AN: Sorry for such a long wait. As you can see, I'm absolute crap at writing couples. It can only get better, though. I don't have writer's block anymore, so I'm going to get started on the next chapter ASAP. Hope this one wasn't too terrible. Let me know what you think!**


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